


Frozen Wings

by LFF_queen13



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Child Abuse, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Healing, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:41:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 45,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24237442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LFF_queen13/pseuds/LFF_queen13
Summary: This is a story set after Yuri and Victor retire from the skating world and how their new trainee becomes the new center piece of their lives as they try to navigate through the world of parenthood.---------------------------------------teaser-------------------------------------------------“Are you sure about this Victor?” Minako questioned.“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?”“Well couldn’t this of waited? Yuri gets back from the Paris Grand Prix, next month.”“Shouldn’t you have at least discussed this decision to start coaching again with Yuri?”“Why? I mean, he’s retiring after this competition. Plus I couldn’t think of a better retirement gift then coaching this young star together.”
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky
Comments: 1
Kudos: 27





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is just a story I thought of years ago when Yuri!!! on Ice came out and so when I was re-watching the anime during quarantine I decided to make it a project to keep me busy. Chapters will be up weekly or once every two weeks not sure, but please enjoy it! And let me know what you think. If people like it I am willing to write a short continuation of what comes next after this story. And don't forget to leave a review to let me know what you think of it!!!XD

Prologue:

A chirping melody filled the air as flightless wings soared through the sky, brimming with the warm rays of the setting sun. As the little creature flew further and further away a sad smile graced the face of the man who once nurtured the now singing sparrow back to health. The little bird used to fill their once quiet house with such vibrant life. Deep down in his heart he knew everything would be alright, his house would not descend back to into an unbearable silent gloom. The house now had a new shining beacon of hope, he thought in reassurance as he looked upon another one of his sparrows playing outside with their family poodle and his beloved, Yuri.


	2. Melancholy Dance

September 2020  
“That’s it for today the rink is now closed!” An elderly man announced throughout the in door clearing. This caused the last of the ice rink’s patrons to clear out to make room for the zamboni to smooth down the ice. A young child no older than thirteen waited eagerly for the clean up crew to finish so he too, like the other children his age, could have his time to play on the ice. As the zamboni made its final lap around the rink, the small boy popped out of his hiding spot underneath the bleachers.  
“Here again, brat?” The old man who owned the rink sighed out as he watched the small boy scurry towards the rink with a pair of worn out figure skates slung over his right shoulder.   
Despite the old man’s protests he often fell weak to the young boy’s cheeky grin and determined hazel eyes. He had lost the day he had agreed to allow the young orphan to skate for free. It was after finding the poor rascal in a desperate pool of tears after sneaking out of the church he lived in.   
“Thanks old man,” the boy called out as he stuck his hand in his jacket pocket to pull out a bag full of cookies before throwing it over the rink’s barricade.   
At least the young boy never forgot his payment he thought as he watched the young boy begin to glide across the ice. Well even if the boy forgot the payment just watching him grace his rink with such elegant movements always filled the old man with warmth. The man thought as he rested his head on his arms while his light brown eyes followed the boy back and forward along the ice.  
————————————————————  
As time ticked away the young boy could feel his body loosen as he fell into his usual routine. The routine that had been engraved into his mind as he watched his mother do it thousands of times before. It was the only thing the boy had left of his parents. The only way he could keep their memory a live.   
Tears soon filled his eyes as his body sank low into an elegant spin before standing up and laying back into the spin. This was what he loved watching the rink twirl around him. For most people watching the world spin on its axis was nauseating, but for him it felt comforting. His parents use to call him their little spinning top. He did not have a lot of memories of his parents, they were often traveling from one skating competition to another. His mother was the star of the operation and his father was the genius behind every routine.  
Sometimes if he focused hard enough, he could see two faceless skaters skating with him. He saw the large muscular figure of his father guiding him through each move, while the petite figure of his mother skated circles around them. He could barely remember the laughter she sprinkled in the air as she showed off.   
As he focused harder, he soon felt his butt glide inches away from the ground reminding him not to lose track of the routine. Ever since he was small, he was never particularly good with jumps. His father came up with this routine so he could still look as elegant as mother while staying close to the ground.  
———————————————————-  
“Hey, grandpa what are you still doing here the place is...” a voice called out as her eyes fixated on the show taking place before her. “Who is that boy?”  
“Hello Natalie, his name is Rory Lance,” the old man introduced as he buried his hands deeper into the pockets of his dark blue fleece coat. “He’s an orphan from the St. Anne’s Church.”  
“Lance? Why have I heard that name before?” Natalie asked as she thought harder about the name. Her grandpa didn’t reply at first, distracted by the young boy’s sudden unsteadiness on the ice after attempting to do a jump.   
Before her grandpa could reply the woman’s eyes widened in realization as she focused on graceful twirling motion of his movements. They reminded her of a vibrant leaf swaying in the wind on an autumn day, dancing to a sweet melody. She could recognize this skating style anywhere, it belonged to the late Aanya Lance. A skating prodigy who was born and raised in Alberta.  
The old man didn’t bother with explaining any further for the whole of Alberta was still morning the loss of their rising star, whose life was cut short by a drunk driver straying too far from a red light. 

With intrigue, Natalie soon joined her grandpa as she filmed the performance of what she saw was a delicate flightless sparrow. One wounded by the cruelty of life, desperately earning for someone to catch it before it fell too far towards the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I wrote this story mostly because I loved the anime so much, but I don't know much about skating so bare with me. XD


	3. An Internet Sensation!!!

November 2020  
“Victor!” was all that could be heard yelled throughout the hot spring, as said man lazily lounged outside with a green bath robe next to his best friend Makkachin, his adorable fluffy brown poodle.   
“Yes, yes, I’m over here,” the young Russian man replied with a curious tone as he leaned back to see the Nishigori triplets running down the hallway. The triplets were a lot taller than before, but that was to be expected since they just celebrated their tenth birthday a couple of weeks ago.  
“First of all we got the bird feed you ordered!” Axel, the one in a purple winter vest and pigtails, announced with excitement as she handed the retired Russian figure skater a bag filled with bird seeds. He gave them a grateful smile. He could finally start to feed the bird, he named Haru. He found had the bird injured in their neighbour’s backyard a few days ago and decided to nurse it back to health in an old shoe box he had found in Yuri’s old room that they now shared.  
“And second of all?” Victor questioned with amusement as he stared up at the identical beaming faces of his and Yuri’s number one fans.  
“And second of all, we heard from Aunty that you’ve been feeling down lately,” Loop, the one in pink and a ponytail, started off as her sister Lutz, the final one in blue and a bun, whipped out her phone with triumph, which only increased Victor’s interest.  
“So we thought this viral video would lighten your mood!” The triplets shimmed out together as they hit play on their phone.   
What Victor saw next caused him to grab the phone out of their hands so he could get a closer look at the young child figure skating across the ice. He couldn’t take his eyes off each intricate and melancholy movement that was made. The performance was flawless, serene, and filled with a untold passion for the sport. A passion he had only seen once before.  
“Victor! Are you okay?!” Axel demanded as she shooed Lutz away to go grab his poodle shape tissue box from his room.   
“Huhn?” Victor questioned as he finally ripped his eyes away from the phone only to realize his tears were overflowing and his heart was aching. Who was this child? He thought, in shock. It wasn’t every day he, Victor Nikiforov, a global award-winning figure skater was moved by someone else's figure skating. The last time it had happened he had found himself impulsively getting on a plane from Russia to Japan. Even now as he sat there bored of retirement he never regretted that decision, which is why he knew when he soon found himself booking a trip to Alberta, Canada, he would not regret this one either.  
———————————————————  
“Are you sure about this Victor?” Minako questioned the grey-haired skating super star as their plane started its descent into the Alberta airspace.   
“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Victor questioned happily as he winked at a few flight attendances who were snapping a picture with him.   
“Well couldn’t this of waited? Yuri gets back from the Paris Grand Prix, next month,” she replied with an exacerbated sigh when she noticed Victor had stopped listening to her to stare at the scenery from outside the plane window.   
“Shouldn’t you have at least discussed this decision to start coaching again with Yuri?”  
“Why? I mean, he’s retiring after this competition. Plus, I couldn’t think of a better retirement gift then coaching this young star together,” Victor mused with excitement as his smile grew once the plane landed on solid ground.  
With another sigh Minako followed Victor out of the plane. She knew Victor meant well and he had been sick being cooped up at the hot springs waiting for Yuri. But getting involved in a project of this magnitude without at least consulting Yuri first, could only spell disaster in her mind.  
It did not take too long to pick up their stuff from baggage claim before they were being greeted by an elderly man with greying hair, thick boxy brown glasses, and a thick red fleece coat who was waving to them as a younger woman no older than twenty held a sign up with Victor’s name written across it.  
“Oh my gosh, my name is Natalie Welkins, and I can’t believe that you’re really here!” The young lady exclaimed as she butted in front of her grandpa in order to shake Victor’s hand first.  
“It’s also a pleasure to meet you both,” Victor replied as he watched Minako introduce herself to the older man, Mr. Welkins, the owner of the Edmonton Skating House.  
“That’s enough fawning Natalie. This man didn’t travel across the Earth to see you...although I am still quite unsure why you made this trip exactly,” the old man stated as he tried to restrain his grand-daughter from taking more than one picture with the skating legend.   
“Sorry to have bothered you Mr. Welkins but I was quite enamored by a video of a boy skating at your rink-“  
“You mean Rory Lance?!” the bond hair and blue eyed young lady boomed as she helped load the car with Victor and Minako’s things. “If that’s the case you must have watched the video I posted!” Natalie squealed earning her a glare from her grandfather.  
“What would someone of your reputation want with him?” The old man questioned as everyone got into the car to begin their journey towards Edmonton city.  
“Why? I want to coach him of course,” Victor answered nonchalantly despite the obvious looks of shock both Canadians shot his way.   
“Well that might be a tall order, but we’ll take you to where the boy lives,” the old man promised causing Victor’s smile to brighten ever so slightly, while Minako couldn’t help feel the pit in her stomach grow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have put the month and year for most of the chapters so that you get an idea of the movement of time during the story. If a chapter doesn't start with a new month just assume it is taking place in the same month as the previous chapter.


	4. What you’re Adopting him?!!!

“So here we are,” the old man announced as they pulled up to an old brick white painted church with black shingles making up the roof. 

“Why does this Rory kid live in a church?” Minako questioned, as she stopped Victor from leaping out of the car until they had more information about this mystery kid.

“It’s because the kid became an orphan two years ago after his mother, a local figure skater, and his father, her coach, got into a fatal car accident.”

“Why didn’t you tell us about this before we drove an hour and a half to find this kid?” Minako questioned, with a pointed glare at their two tour guides.

“Look we thought of saying something, but we also didn’t want to deter you from offering that child a chance of a lifetime,” Natalie apologized with a sadness clouding her bright blue eyes.

“My grand-daughter is right, that child didn’t deserve the cards that life dealt him. He has a lot of potential and if you can polish up his skills so he can share his talent with the world I don’t want to get in your way.“

“But-“

“Minako, the circumstances of this skater do not matter. I came here to make him an offer, and that’s what I am going to do,” Victor proclaimed stubbornly as he got out of the car and marched towards the church. Leaving Minako to run after him as the lump in stomach continue to double in size.

When they entered the church they had to quickly step aside as an angry couple rushed off in a huff and a long list profanities. The very sight made Victor for the first time since this idea popped into his head acknowledge Minako’s looks urging him to tread with caution. 

However, he couldn't spend too long rethinking his game plan as a they caught the eye of a nun that was trying to chase after the disgruntled couple.

“Why hello Sir and Madame, my name is Sister Gale,” a woman dressed in a black and white nun’s outfit with bright green eyes greeted.

“Hi my name is Victor Nikiforov and this is Minako,” Victor greeted back as he introduced himself before explaining his reasons for coming all this way to visit their remote orphanage in the middle of a forest full of evergreens. 

“Oh that’s wonderful! I had no idea our little Rory was famous on the internet! But he has always been amazing on the ice,” the kind Sister stated with a proud smile, as if she was bragging about her own child.

“I am so glad you agree Sister, that’s why I came all this way to offer my services to coach him,” Victor declared with a brimming smile that faltered a bit when the Sister started to frown slightly in confusion.

“Oh I’m sorry Victor, and you came all this way as well,” Sister Gale stated in a solemn voice as she ushered the two into the dinning room where she got another nun to bring them some tea.

“What’s the matter Sister?” Victor finally asked when they were all situated with some tea.

“The thing is Rory, although a remarkably bright boy, has a lot of behavioral issues. He has been in the orphanage for two years now and has been sent back here ten times due his foster parents just giving up on him.”

“But all I want to do is give him the opportunity to cultivate his talents,” Victor pleaded with the sister only to shrink away from her as she fixed him with a pointed glare.

“But you also intend to take him outside of the country, yes?”

“That is correct-“

“In order for you to do that you will need to adopt him,” the sister stated bluntly with a raised eyebrow urging Victor to choose his next words carefully. But to Minako’s dismay and the sister’s annoyance, of course Victor didn’t consider the gravity of the situation and nonchalantly volunteered to adopt the boy without a second thought.

Minako tried not to look as horrified as she felt but she couldn’t help kicking Victor for being so thoughtless. But for the hundredth time since she had accompanied Victor on this trip he completely ignored her. 

“You do realize by agreeing to adopt him you cannot just simply drop him back here, once the skating season is done with or if you find it difficult to train him.” The sister stated rather than questioned as she stared at Victor trying to discern whether he was really taking the whole situation seriously.

“I understand.”

“That couple you met on the way out of here only had Rory for a weekend, before deciding that they didn’t want him. And I don’t need to remind you that this is a child’s life and well-being we are talking about here,” the sister restated hoping she could dissuade Victor from entering this arrangement impulsively. But the old woman eventually gave up when the determination in his pale blue eyes did not waver for a second.

With a sigh she folded in defeat, “fine, I will start the paperwork for you and...what was your partner’s name again?” The sister asked as she looked to Minako, who paled instantly at the possibility that she may have to explain to Yuri why she had adopted a child with his husband.

“Oh her name is Yuri,” Victor answered calmly as he shot Minako a wink that told her to follow his lead. As she looked between the stern face of the sister and Victor’s adorable pleading face she shrugged with exhaustion and went along with Victor’s lie. At this point she would have done anything to get back to Japan without having to legally adopt a child under her real name.

“Very well if you are both up for adopting him, I’ll let you spend sometime with him before drawing up any documents,” the sister sighed as she got up to guide them through the church. They followed the old lady through a big room brightly painted yellow filled to the brim with toys and children of all ages running around having fun.

Victor found himself looking around excitedly wondering, which bundle of joy was going to be theirs. However; that excitement soon disappeared as she lead them out of the playroom and out the back door to see what looked like a small child snuggled in between two grey and white huskies on the wooden porch overlooking the sunset.

“Rory, I have some visitors for you,” the sister sang sweetly as she tried to coax the young boy out of his cocoon of fur and warmth.

“Just leave me alone!” the young boy growled in annoyance as he poked his head from being comfortably snuggled into the nape of the neck of one the huskies. 

“Watch your tone young man!” Sister Gale reprimanded as she whacked him playfully square on the head before forcing him to stand up straight with a gentle pull of the back of his black hoodie. “Well hurry up and introduce yourself,” the sister commanded, but before the child could open his mouth to obey, Victor bent towards the child’s level with an out stretched hand.

“Hi my name is Victor Nikiforov, and it is my pleasure to finally meet you,” Victor introduced with a bright smile that caused the child to go wide eyed with a multitude of emotions: shock, admiration, shock, and a whole lot of shock.

“I-I-I have seen you before,” the boy stammered as he took the older man’s hand with a polite bow that even surprised the nun beside them. “My mom used to have your photo posted all over her locker at the skating house. She said you were the greatest skater she had ever seen.”

“Oh, your mother has really great taste. How about you? Which skater do you look up to?”

“First is mother of course, and second would be...Yuri the skater that you use to coach. When I watched him break your record with dad I swore I wanted be just like him when I grow up,” the boy with a messy mop of raven hair on top of an undercut answered with beaming hazel eyes that stood out due his tan skin. 

The moment the boy mentioned that his favorite skater was Yuri. Minako could see Victor instantly fall in love with the kid as both her and the sister left them to get better acquainted geeking out over skating. As the month flew by with Victor making daily visits to the orphanage to play with the newest member of their family while the paper work was finalized Minako couldn’t help but approve of Victor’s decision to adopt the kid she was starting see as a nephew. Watching Victor and Rory snuggle up together after countless hours of watching inflight movies confirmed to Minako that Victor was going to make a wonderful new dad for this boy. The only problem now was how Yuri was going to react to the whole situation?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post the first 3 chapters of the story so you guys can get an idea of what the story is going to be about. The next chapters will be posted 1 at a time weekly or once every other week depending on how busy I am. Please let me know what you think of the story so far. XD


	5. Meeting Yuri!!!

December 2020

“So what’s the Katsuki family like?” Rory wondered as he held on to Victor’s hand tightly as the older man guided him towards the hot spring business that his family in law ran.

“They are...how should I put this...very warm and welcoming,” Victor replied with a bright smile. The beaming smile of his new guardian seemed to always draw the little boy closer to the retired skating God. 

Just as Victor had promised the Katsuki family had welcomed him with cheerful smiles and bowls upon bowls of pork cutlet bowls to the point the boy soon found himself passed out at the table too full to even move. The feeling was slightly unnerving to him especially since Rory couldn’t remember a time he had felt this full in his life.

“Have you had your fill little piglet?” Victor questioned with an amused smile as the young boy struggled to get up. His smile only turned into a hardy laugh as the boy gave up and just bobbed his head in a reply. 

“Well then, I need to get you all washed up for your number 1 idol. Who will be coming in a few hours,” Victor announced after scooping up the now struggling boy. 

“No! No! I hate baths!!!” Rory squealed as he continued to pound against Victor’s back with his fists to no avail. 

“Now, now, be a good boy for me. Even dirty piggies need to take a bath every now and then,” Victor explained with a strained smile across his face that was only relieved by the older man chucking the young boy in nothing but a towel to cover his waist into the bath water. Victor could feel sighs coming out of his mouth as he bared with the pain of being scratched and bitten by the child, which only worsened when he started shampooing the child’s hair.

“Look, there is only one rule in this house bad boys don’t get pork cutlets for dinner,” Victor practically commanded as he pinched the child’s cheeks together with one hand while leering over the child with a menacing smile that caused Rory to shrink away in compliance. If the older man hadn’t known better he could have sworn he adopted a cat from Canada surely not a child. The very notion perplexed him greatly, at least until he took a better look at his charge’s chest and mid section that was riddled with scars of varying sizes and severity. The one that caught his eye was a large pinkish scar that marred almost the entirety of his back from under his scapula down the back of his torso.

Is that a burn mark? Victor thought to himself as he tried not to allow his horror to appear on his face. He couldn’t just jump to conclusions, after all Rory was what one would call a wild child of sorts. He needed to be sure before acting on the sinking feeling forming at the pit of his gut.

“Very good. Now tell me why you don’t like baths.”

Rory slightly squirmed under the weight of Victor’s question especially since it was quite evident that he had noticed the scar covering his back. The small boy just took a quiet breath before resuming with a cheerful smile as he started to play with the soap suds falling from his head. 

“I think it was around house number five, and stupid me forgot to check the water temperature of the shower before getting in and then boom instant fear of water,” Rory answered with a calm and light tone. A tone that could have fooled anyone who had heard it...and frankly Victor wish he really could believe it. 

There was something simply off putting by the way the young boy didn't once make eye contact while he replied or the way his whole posture seemed to straighten up when he lightly touched the burn mark, as if even to this day it still caused him pain. The way Rory’s body had stiffened when he had heard Victor’s question reminded him of a body remembering that it couldn’t afford to let its guard down no matter how safe the boy may feel with him. 

What happened to you to make you like this? Who dared to wound such an adorable child? And how many were out there that thought it was appropriate to scar his child’s beautiful skin? Victor couldn't help but ponder deeply about each and every question until he was brought back to reality by the ring of the door bell that filled the house. 

“That must be Yuri!” Victor heard boom with excitement as the door to the bath swung open. This caused Victor to look down to see water where he should have seen a squirming child.

Oh no, he thought as he got up out of the bath in order to capture the little monster. He had planned to get Rory presentable and waiting in his room while tried to smooth Yuri over about the whole situation. To his misfortune he was too late judging by the way Victor’s voice died out from calling Rory’s name as he came face to face with a bewildered Yuri collapsed near the door way with Rory squeezing him in a tight hug.

“Umm...welcome home Yuri!” Victor managed as Yuri picked himself off the ground as Rory desperately continued to cling to his torso.

“Victor...what the hell is this?” Yuri questioned as he effortlessly picked up the boy to better examine him. It was as if he was trying to force himself to believe the scene he saw before him was truly real.

“That is our new adopted son, Rory,” Victor announced cheerfully, hoping that Yuri wouldn’t lose his temper until after he had some time alone with him to fully discuss the matter. However; this really wasn’t Victor’s day especially since that piece of information seemed to push his Japanese husband completely off the deep end.

“Ah...I don’t think I heard you right,” Yuri stammered out as he looked between the grinning child and his husband.

“Oh Yuri! You’re back! And I see that you and your new son are getting along quite well,” Yuri's mother practically sang as she came from the receptionist desk to greet her son.

“My new son?” Yuri questioned with disbelief as he finally had to come to terms with the fact that this may not have been a nasty trick his husband was play on him.

“Why yes, do you want to see his adoption certificate?” The old cheerful woman questioned as she lifted the picture frame she was carrying. “Your father had it framed today. Yuri I’m so proud of you!” His mother squealed with glee as she pinched her now frozen son’s cheek.

There was no deny it now not after he saw his and Victor’s names printed out neatly proclaiming them to be the legal guardians of Rory Joseph Lance. As the news continued to sink in Yuri’s grip soon slackened around Rory causing the young boy to fall to the floor. 

“Hey! That hurt...Yuri?” Rory yelled out as he rubbed his bottom only to see Yuri go completely pale and fall over. “Victor is he dead?!” Rory exclaimed as he tried to nudge Yuri in a panic.

With laughter Yuri’s mother picked up the now panicking boy and whipped away his tears. “Now, now little one don’t cry. Yuri is just so overwhelmed in seeing you. Now let’s get you more presentable for when he wakes up shall we?” Mrs. Katsuki soothed as she carried the boy, who was still mostly naked besides from a towel that draped across his waist, out of the room; however, not before turning to Victor. 

“Victor be a dear and handle this mess for me.”

“Yes ma’am,” Victor replied reflexively knowing quite well no matter how nicely she had phased that one sentence, he knew it was nothing short of an order. Although his mother-in-law was a kind old woman, like her son she had quite a bit of a temper if pushed. As Victor carried his husband up the stairs to take care of the matter at hand he couldn’t help but feel the sinking feeling in his gut worsen as it dawned on him that he had really done it this time.  
————————————————————  
“I can’t believe it! I leave you alone for three months and you decided that it would be a great idea to adopt a child without telling me and forging my signature on his adoption papers!” Yuri yelled listening quietly to Victor’s story about how Rory came to be apart of their family.

“Look I told you. I didn’t mean for all this to happen...I just thought that since you were retiring this year we could train Rory together-“

“What does that have to do with adopting him?! Plus you decided this a month ago! Why wasn’t I at least notified about it?!” Yuri questioned as he paced around the room in anger with sulking blue eyes following him.

“I didn’t know what to say to be honest...and I didn’t want it distracting you from the competition,” Victor answered as he looked over the head board of their bed to see a bran new silver medal on Yuri's side of the achievement ledge they had made together. Yuri’s eyes followed Victor’s before he brought himself back towards the argument before them.

“Even so, how could you have made such a life changing decision without me? We’re suppose to be partners!” Yuri yelled as tears ran down his face. 

When Victor saw Yuri’s tears he reflexively rushed towards him. But he stopped mid stride as the door to their room swung open revealing a very upset looking child.

“He didn’t know about me did he?” Rory questioned softly as tears fell down his face; hurt evident in his hazel eyes. Victor rushed to pick up the child to hold him tightly in his arms. The sight of the two caused Yuri to head towards the door.

“Where are you going Yuri?” Victor questioned in a panic as he grabbed Yuri's hand desperately. 

“I’m going to Minako’s...I need to clear my head,” Yuri answered as he broke free from Victor’s hold and slammed the door behind him.

“Does this mean you’re sending me back to the church?” Rory questioned as he clung harder to Victor’s shirt, while his tears fell quicker. As Victor’s eyes stared into hazel eyes all he could think about was how happy the child had been when they use to spend the whole day playing at the ice rink when they were Canada, as well as, the scars he had seen that morning. He wanted to keep this child safe and he knew if Yuri got to know Rory like he did he would want the same for the child as well.

“Look before I took you from the orphanage, I promised Sister Gale that Japan would be your forever home. And Yuri and I your forever family.”

“But-“

“But nothing, we just need to show Yuri what he’s been missing out on,” Victor stated as he whipped away the boy’s tears with a warm smile while sharing his plan with his son.

———————————————————

“I can’t believe he would do this to me! To us!” Yuri ranted as Minako placed a cup of tea in front of him before sitting across from him with her own cup of tea.

“Are you finished yet?” She questioned with annoyance while taking a sip of her tea. She ignored the look of surprise Yuri was shooting at her. “Look I get that you were blind sided by this news. I mean I know how you feel, I followed Victor to Canada in order to check out a potential up and coming skater...but you know shit happened and now you have a kid.”

“Yes Minako, I’m quite aware of my current situation.”

“Are you really though? You now have a child with real feelings and despite how he came to be yours and Victor’s child. You two still have a very real responsibility to raise him.”

Minako’s words slightly stung Yuri as he remembered the hurt in Rory’s eyes when he walked in on their argument. He could hardly imagine how it must feel to have no family; to be an orphan. He had allows been surrounded by family, heck he technically still lived in parents' home with his husband.

“What if I’m not a good father?” Yuri whispered with anxiety as he realized he didn’t know the first thing about being a father. The thought had never really cross his mind and before this he didn’t think Victor even wanted children. 

As Minako there sat in silence watching her best friend spiral out of control, all she could do was laugh.

“What’s so funny? I’m being serious,” Yuri questioned as he looked up at her with a glare.

“I know and that’s what so funny,” Minako choked out in between giggles. When she finally got her laughter under control, she got up and opened the door to her house. “Yuri, no one’s asking you to be super-dad. All that child needs is you to be yourself and the rest should fall into place,” she said warmly before gesturing towards him to get out of her house. 

“Thanks, Minako,” Yuri sighed in gratitude as he grabbed his coat to leave. 

“No problem, this is kind of my job to knock some sense into you every now and then,” she stated as she gave the petite man a whack across the back. “By the way you’ll find your husband and son at the Ice Castle,” she yelled towards him as she waved him off. 

The Ice Castle? Yuri thought with curiosity. What type of surprise did Victor have in store for him this time?

————————————————————  
“Hey everyone! I’ve caught a wild Yuri lurking around outside!” Yuuko announced as she rushed Yuri towards the ice with a beaming smile. When Yuri got closer to the rink he noticed Victor and Rory whispering to one another, at least until he came into view.

“Yuri!!!” Rory beamed with excitement as he waved up towards him, urging him to descend the bleachers quickly.

“What is all this?” Yuri questioned as he looked between a cheerful child and his gleeful husband. What caught Yuri's attention the most was how Rory was dressed in what looked to be a miniaturized version of his skating outfit he wore when he danced to Yuri on Ice the first year he spent with Victor. The boy was sporting a purple V neck top covered with a sparkling navy blue silk blazer that had an intricate red flower blooming across his back and black pants that matched his black skates.

“This is a welcome home performance, Rory and I have been working on for a month. In celebration of our favorite figure skater,” Victor announced with a signal to Yuuko to start the music.

With that both Yuri and Victor sat down as their favorite song started to trickle through the space. A smile grew on Yuri’s face as he watched the young boy imitating the performance that won him silver in his first ever Grand Prix Final. Watching how graceful the child was brought back a lot of fond memories he had with Victor.

“What do you think of him?” Victor asked with a nostalgic look on his face as blue eyes shifted towards Yuri’s brown eyes.

“I can see why you traveled all the way to Canada to see him skate. The level of grace and emotion he’s putting into that piece makes it hard to believe you two have been only working on it for a month,” Yuri replied as he lowered his head on to Victor’s shoulder, redirecting their attention back on the performance.

“Does that mean we can keep him?” Victor questioned with a pleading look. A look Yuri usually could not say no to and this time was no exception. 

“We can only on one condition,” Yuri stated with a laugh. “No more making life changing decisions without me, okay?”

“Promise,” Victor vowed as he wrapped Yuri in a hug.

“But on a more serious note. Why did you replace all my jumps with spins?” Yuri complained as he watched Rory’s skating with a pout.

“Sorry about that, although his skating shows a lot of promise. He finds it really difficult learning even the basic jumps,” Victor admitted. 

“I guess he’s sort of like a flightless bird struggling to become air borne,” Yuri remarked causing Victor’s face to light up in realization.

“You’re right he reminds more of Haru than a little piglet,” Victor murmured happily as he snuggled into Yuri’s black messy hair.

“Haru?” Yuri questioned with a raised eyebrow. “That better not be another stray you picked up and neglected to tell me about,” Yuri questioned in displeasure that only grew when Victor’s silent guilty grin told him all he needed to know. He really couldn’t leave this man to his own devices, Yuri thought to himself.


	6. Let the Training Begin!!!

“Rory! Wake up!” the young boy heard blare through the house causing Rory to bore deeper into his bedding that harbored both him and Makkachin. If only ignoring the calls of his over zealous new guardian was sufficient, Rory thought as he was dragged out from underneath the fort of blankets he had created around him and Victor’s still sleeping poodle.

“What is it? It’s still 4 am!” Rory whined as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes while following Victor out of the room. Rory soon found himself in the hot springs dining area where Yuri and the Nishigori triplets sat waiting for him with plates filled with pancakes.

“This is a meeting about how we are going to get you ready in time for the World Junior Figure Skating Championships, in March,” Victor beamed in excitement that was lost on his son as Rory ignored Victor’s gestures to have him sit by him for a seat next to Yuri.

“Don’t you think that’s too soon? I mean I never even skated in a local competition let alone something with the word ‘world’ in its title,” Rory replied as he swiped a few pancakes from Yuri’s plate.

“Well weren’t you the one who told me you wanted me to coach you to the Junior Grand Prix final?” Victor questioned with a pout annoyed Rory had ignored him to sit next to Yuri.

“Yeah but that stuff doesn’t start until August we still got plenty of-“

“Time? In order for you to even qualify for the Junior Grand Prix, you first need to be certified by achieving a good rank in this competition,” Victor explained only to be faced with a still deadpanning child.

“And this meeting couldn’t wait until the sun came out because?” 

“Yes, although I was enthralled by the way you portrayed the message of your skate routine through your body movement on that viral video. It is still painfully obvious to everyone that you are a complete novice. A novice that for some odd reason has become satisfied with the fact that he’s barely has the basics of skating down and doesn’t even know how to do any jumps.”

“Ouch, so I’m guessing Victor isn’t going to be the nice coach. Is he?” Rory whispered to Yuri while Victor went on with his lecture. 

With an apologetic smile Yuri interrupted Victor with a clearing of his throat. “What Victor’s trying to say is that we don’t have a lot of time to get you ready for this competition, but everyone in this room is determine to help you get there.”

“Including the annoying triplets?” Rory questioned with an amused smirk that resulted in him being splashed with spit as they stuck out their tongues and blew raspberries at him. 

“Especially us, now quiet down and let Victor get on with the meeting,” Axel declared as she watched the older boy whip the spit from his face with a spiteful smile.

“Thank you,” Victor stated as he continued the meeting by bring up the performance that made Rory go viral. Despite the early hour the young boy couldn’t help but get swept up and go along with Victor’s game plan to get him ready.

After breakfast he went with Yuri to Minako’s house where he was ushered into a large dance studio. 

“So there’s my little victim,” Minako greeted as she ruffled the boy’s hair only to have him back away before hiding behind Yuri. With a sigh Yuri couldn’t help but laugh at the boy’s reaction. From the little time he had spent with the boy, Yuri could tell he was bright enough to be wary of those he could tell were evil. Minako, despite her good nature could be a real slave driver when it came to dance.

“Are you ready to learn some ballet kid?” 

“Ballet is for girly wimps,” Rory stated with a pout as he looked away from the woman remembering all the times she had spoiled his fun with Victor back in Canada. Rory’s words sent Minako laughing especially when she saw Yuri clutch his chest as Rory’s words slightly stung his pride as a man.

“Hey, Yuri it looks like your number 1 fan things your a girly wimp.”

“Huhn, that not what I said!” Rory countered as he started panicking due to the hurt look on Yuri’s face.

“Who do you think taught that idiot over there to dance,” she stated with a smirk.

“Well I guess if Yuri learned from you, it can’t be all that girly,” Rory muttered with a pout as he agreed to allow her to train him. Yuri couldn’t help but inwardly laugh as he watched her spend the next five hours barking orders at the poor boy. One thing he remembered about his days training with Minako was the woman was ruthless. Show one moment of weakness and the woman would figuratively pound it out of you.

After five hours of training without a break, Rory was a sweaty mess on the floor trying desperately to take in enough air to satisfy his body. “Still think ballet is for girly wimps?” Minako questioned with a warm smile as she placed a water bottle on the boy’s forehead.

“No ma’am,” he answered before guzzling down the bottle of water.

“Good, now practice your stretches when you get home. You need to be a hell of a lot more flexible if you ever hope to get to Yuri’s level,” Minako stated with a pointed look that caused Rory to straighten up with a yes ma’am.

“How is it possible that you turned such a wild child into a solider in five hours?” Yuri whispered to her as they watched Rory change out of his dance shoes and into his snickers.

“What can I say? I’m a natural with children,” Minako replied with a proud tone as she nudged her old time friend and student. “Plus it helped that I had your stamp of approval. The kid really looks up to you.”

Before Yuri could reply to her Rory had latched on to his hand. “C’mon Yuri, we promised we would meet Victor for lunch at home and I’m hungry.”

“Okay, okay,” Yuri agreed as he allowed his little monster to rush him out the door. Before they left Rory turned around to wave goodbye to Minako with a cheerful smile.

“Remember to do those stretches I taught you tonight!” Minako yelled out towards them with chuckle. As she watched the two leaving hand in hand she had no doubt that Yuri would make it as a father...eventually.  
————————————————————  
“Come on you need to eat too Haru,” Rory urged as he tried to feed the fussy bird some seeds the triplets handed him after lunch. 

“I’m glad to see that Minako hasn’t broken our little bird, yet,” Victor commented as he came into the dining room in a form fitting white long sleeved shirt and red track pants. 

“Victor! Is it time to go?” Rory questioned while pouring the rest of Haru’s bird feed into his box so someone else could attempt to get the bird to eat something. Before Victor couldn’t even reply the boy sporting one of Yuri’s old black blouses and grey sweat pants leapt up scurrying to grab his skates in one hand and put on his snickers with the other.

Seeing Rory rushing to his side as they both took off on foot towards the Ice Castle roughly two and half kilometers away, made Victor smile as he was reminded of their days together in Canada. Rory’s vibrant energy and love for skating was what cemented Victor’s decision to adopt the little rascal despite each jump he taught him that day that usually resulted in a floundering muck up that didn’t even look close to the basic jumps he had just showed him. Despite each failure he could see the boy was doing his best to keep up and meet his expectations no matter whether it was running marathons with Makkachin by his side at 4 am or staying up until late in the night watching videos of the basic jumps Victor had showed while practicing his stretches. Both Yuri and Victor enjoyed seeing their son grow a custom to his ever changing and intensifying training schedule to the point there wasn’t a moment of the day the two didn’t see him training. For the next couple of months Rory worked diligently on his grace, pose, strength, and balance until he finally achieved their goal a week before the competition. Victor and Yuri watched with overbearing pride as Rory completed all the jumps Victor had ever taught him. He landed all of the six jumps: the toe loop, the salchow, the flip, the loop, the lutz, and finally the axel. All flawlessly. 

Victor whistled in amazement as Rory landed the final jump. “Houston it looks like we have take off,” Victor muttered as he could a see once flightless bird take flight. After that achievement came the matter of quickly choreographing a short and free program and tailoring a few of Victor’s old skating outfits before the newly formed family found themselves in the beautiful streets of Finland.


	7. World Junior Figure Skating Championships!!!

March 2021

“Wow, I can’t believe we’re here!” Rory shimmed as he held both his guardians’ hands as he led them through the streets of Finland, while Yuri tried to find their hotel on google maps.

“There it is! Gather around we need to take a picture!” Rory proclaimed as the jade colored roof tops of the Helsinki Church came into view. Rory expertly whipped out the selfie stick that Minako had gifted him after hearing about him being able to make all his jumps. “Everyone say cheese!” Rory demanded as both Victor and him struck a silly pose while Yuri struggled to smile.

“Now that we have gotten enough pictures, we should really start looking for our hotel. After all we have an important day tomorrow,” Yuri stated with exhaustion heavy in his voice. Normally Yuri was use to flying through many different time zones, but this was the first time he had ever flown with such an unruly child. Coupled with Rory’s antics and Victor’s none stop chatter Yuri wasn’t able to get a lick of sleep on that 20 hour flight.

“But I’m not tired yet!” Rory boomed as he caught sight of another land mark he wanted to take a picture with along with his two parents. Right before he was able to break away from his parents Yuri took hold of the boy’s bright blue hoodie.

“Tired or not I’m putting my foot down,” Yuri demanded with a pointed look as Rory struggled against Yuri’s hold wanting to spend more time outside taking in his new surroundings with two of his favorite people in the world.

“Now Rory, listen to Yuri won’t you,” Victor added in a serious tone that thickened his Russian accent. This caused Rory to look between the stern looks of both his guardians before he gave into their wishes with a silent pout. 

“Come on little monster, you got a few good ones to post didn’t you?” Yuri said trying to raise the boy’s spirits as the young boy flipped through the pictures on the phone Victor had given him the day before they boarded the plane.

“I guess,” Rory agreed as he posted a few of the pictures on Instagram before quickly taking a look of a check list he had made before stuffing it back in his pocket. “Will we have sometime after the competition to go to one more place?”

“Place in the top twenty and we’ll take you anywhere you want to go,” Victor promised ruffling the boy’s wavy black hair. 

“Pinky swear?” Rory questioned lifting his pinky towards Victor. With a warm smile Victor took hold of Rory’s finger with his own pinky while chanting an oath to put the child at ease and at the same time bolstering his morale. 

With that settled the boys soon found themselves entering into a fancy hotel right next to the building where the skating competition was taking place. Rory soon found himself looking around awe struck at the sparkling and fancy garnishes that decorated the hotel lobby.

“Victor, didn’t I tell you to pick a modest hotel? I mean how much is this going to cost us?” Yuri questioned with annoyance at his husband's frivolous spending. His look of annoyance only deepened as Victor gave him an innocent look.

“Okay, okay. I’m friends with the hotel owner so he’s giving us a deluxe size room for more than half the price,” Victor explained with a nonchalant tone, as he showed the receptionist his credentials to allow her to identify their booking.

“Oh why hello Mr. Nikiforov, I have your special reservation right here,” the woman behind the desk stated with excitement clear in her voice as she handed him a pair of key cards.

“Thank you Miss,” Victor replied gratefully with a wink that caused the woman standing in front of them to swoon slightly. 

“No it’s our pleasure here at Paradise Hotel. Our president wanted us to personally wish you a wonderful stay,” the lady reassured him as she waved over an employee to help them carry their luggage up to their room.

Oh right, Yuri thought to himself with an exasperated look on his face. He had forgotten who he was dealing with in this matter. Victor was known across the world as holding the world recorder of seven consecutive gold medals in male figure skating. He was use to a luxurious lifestyle of living in five star hotels and eating at high end restaurants. I guess living the good life was refreshing every now and then, Yuri thought to himself as he followed the rest upstairs.  
————————————————————  
“All ready for bed?” Yuri questioned as he watched Victor fling a newly washed Rory on to the bed with a huge smile on his face.

“Yep,” Rory answered as he snuggled into the middle of the king size bed in the middle of their luxury suit. Victor and Yuri soon followed suit as Yuri set an alarm for 7 am so they could get ready and eat breakfast with enough time to make registration.

“Now Rory, I know that tomorrow is going to be a big day. Just remember to keep calm,” Yuri advised trying his best to sound like a real coach...or at the very best at least a convincing father figure.

“Why wouldn’t I be calm I have you and Victor by my side...plus I have mom and dad right here,” Rory stated with a tired yawn as he pointed towards his heart. “Knowing that makes me feel invincible!” The young boy declared with another yawn that almost engulfed his words entirely.

The sentiment couldn’t help but touch the two men as they watched their son curl into a ball next to Yuri before falling sound asleep. “Well if you do feel nervous, we’ll be right by your side,” Victor whispered right before kissing Rory’s forehead.

“Don’t worry he’ll make it tomorrow,” Yuri commented as he saw worry flicker in Victor’s eyes as they lingered on Rory’s sleeping form. Victor instantly felt his worry slip away as Yuri gently creased his cheek. With a heavy sigh, Victor leaned in to give Yuri a kiss goodnight.

“You’re right, what he needs the most right now is our faith that he can qualify,” Victor murmured quietly as a yawn ushered out of him before he switched off the lamp next to him plunging the room into a peaceful darkness.

————————————————————  
The next day started without any hitches as Victor and Yuri divided the work to getting Rory ready in time for the competition. It was Victor’s job to wake up their sleeping monster and get him presentable for the competition, which meant struggling with the young teen to ensure he was washed, well groomed, and dressed in one of Victor’s old costumes from his passed Junior competitions. Yuri’s job was to make sure Rory’s sports bag was adequately filled with all the essentials, such as, water bottles, snacks, his skates, and an extra hair brush in case they needed to do any last minute touch ups.

It was 7:45 am by the time they were finally finished with their preparations and heading out the door for breakfast. 

“Rory, stop fiddling with your bow tie,” Victor stated as he whacked the boy’s hands away from his black bow tie. Victor had literally spent thirty minutes trying to get said fussy child into.

“I’m sorry it’s just really hard to breathe in,” Rory retorted with a pout as he rubbed his now aching hand. 

“Come on, just put up with it for today. Okay,” Yuri bargained as he looked at the time knowing they would have to be leaving soon. Despite the time, Yuri could barely focus on being punctual when he saw that Rory had barely touch his breakfast. 

“Rory,” Yuri called out sternly as he took hold of his cheeks in one hand. “Why is it that we have three minutes before our taxi comes and you still haven’t touched your breakfast?” 

Rory’s eyes shrunk away from Yuri’s stern tone, before the boy pulled away from Yuri’s grasp with a cheerful smile plastered his face. “I’m not really that hungry anyway, so I’ll go wait for the taxi while you two finish up,” Rory explained seconds before he was out of his seat and running towards the lobby.

“Should we be worried about this?” Victor questioned as turned back to Yuri with worry evident in his blue eyes.

“Well it is his first competition, this is I guess to be expected even for a boy who seems to be incapable of expressing his true feelings to us,” Yuri sighed as he picked up Rory’s sports bag. “Come on, he’ll come to us when he’s ready.”

“And what if he doesn’t,” Victor asked quietly as he took Yuri’s outstretched hand before they headed off towards lobby where they could hear the faint honking of a taxi.

“Then we’ll figure something out...we always do,” Yuri replied as he gave Victor’s hand a slight squeeze.

————————————————————

“Okay there, all signed up,” Victor declared as he handed back Rory’s completed application to the registration desk.

“Now all we have to do is find some way to entertain ourselves for an hour, while we wait for the male competition to begin,” Yuri agreed as he looked around the large sport’s arena for a quiet space to help Rory get into the zone. But before they could even look around the facility they were swarmed by reporters.

“Oh my gosh it’s Yuri and Victor together!” One of the female reports practically squealed, which alerted a swarm of reporters to encircle them.

“What are you two doing here at the Junior World Championships?”

“Is it to cheer on a contestant?”

“Scope out the new generation of skaters to train-“

“Hey! Stop crowding us can’t you see they don’t want to answer your mindless questions?” Rory grumbled out as he stepped in front of Yuri and Victor as if he could protect them from the vultures that they both have become accustomed to over the years.

“And whom may you be?” A lady dressed in a blue suit questioned with annoyance as everyone’s attention was redirected to the well groomed teenager with piercing hazel eyes.

“That would be our son, we just recently adopted him,” Victor informed putting on one of his award winning smile’s as he attempted to placate the people around them with some information.

“So that means the reason your here, is to cheer on your son so he qualifies for the Junior Grand Prix coming up?” 

“Well sort of. We’ve been training him ever since I got back from the 2020 Senior Grand Prix,” Yuri added as he lifted the boy into his arms in the hopes it would better restrain the boy. It was evident to both parents that all the attention was greatly souring Rory’s mood. They had learned earlier on that Rory did not far well being crowded by strangers when they had taken him along to an autographing event when a new Sport Shop opened up in Hasetsu.

“Awe you three look absolutely adorable together. What’s your name little guy?” One of the reporters asked as her curiosity led her to moving to close to the family of their central focus.

The close proximity caused Rory to start to squirm as he tried to curl up deeper into Yuri’s arms as if doing so could hide himself away from anyone he did not trust from getting too close.

“His name is Rory Lance. Now if you all would excuse us. We really must get him settled before the competition starts,” Victor answered as he skillfully maneuvered himself between the stray reporter and Yuri with a strained smile. All three of them felt themselves relax when the reporters complied and moved out of their way to clear a path for them.

With them in the clear away from preying eyes they soon settled down into a relatively empty locker room. Yuri spent the next hour listening intently for updates on the male skating competition and Victor spent it watching Rory’s every move with a slight worry edged into his eyes. 

Normally seeing Rory keeping himself busy with last minute stretches or jogging would’ve put the Russian man at ease; however, today was not normal. No matter how Victor analyzed the boy he couldn’t ignore the overwhelming buzz of energy he was sensing off the boy. On one hand it could be just his mind overthinking things, after all, Rory’s regular baseline was energetic. But on the other hand the boy could be just keeping himself busy to distract from his nerves, which Victor knew he was trying not to deal with like most things the boy deemed to difficult to put up with.

“This is an announcement urging all junior male contestants to make their way to the ice rink. I repeat can all junior male contestants please make their way to the rink.”

Victor shot Yuri a worried look as they both watched Rory tense up for a moment before he was up and rushing his guardians towards the ice rink. When they got to the rink Rory didn’t interact with any of the contestants making sure he was never too far away from either one of his parents. No matter how much either one of them urged him to relax or go say hello to the other skaters he would ignore them by busying himself with another activity. After warm ups on the ice the order was determined based on ballots pulled out a large decorated baby blue box. Rory was placed last out of fifty other competitors.

With that both Victor and Yuri had to endure roughly an hour and a half of the growing tension storming around Rory as he struggled to keep his concentration on one thing. As the worry in the room became intoxicating Victor remembered his promise with Rory yesterday night.

“Rory, c’mere for a bit,” he called over to the teenager who was struggling to do stretches he once could do in his sleep. The boy looked up and was instantly by Victor’s side as if he was craving human contact. “You remember the promise we made yesterday?”

“Of course and I’m going to hold you to it. So you better not forget.”

“Okay, okay I won’t forget. But where was the place you wanted to go to and why?”

“The Botanical Gardens!” Rory boomed with a excitement. “It’s the only place we haven’t visited yet on my list,” Rory explained as he whipped out a list of crossed off places from his pocket. The boy soon busied himself rummaging through his sports bag until he brought out a dark red photo album. 

“When my mother’s skating career started I was too young for them to take with them, so they always promised me that they would bring me to every place they traveled without me...So I thought if we could visit everywhere they did then they could still keep their promise,” Rory mused as he flipped to a section of the book labelled Helsinki in beautiful cursive writing. The reason why the newest member of their family was so adamant about going sight seeing yesterday caused tears to swell in Victor’s eyes. 

“Well you know in order for them to keep their promise you need to keep yours by placing in the top twenty,” Yuri stated with a warm smile.

“And in order for that to happen you need to loosen up a little,” Victor announced before initiating a tickle attack that caused Rory’s laughter to bubble through the air.

“Stop, stop,” Rory breathed out as he struggled to regain his composure when they heard the name of the forty-ninth consent being called to preform blared through the small locker room they had been waiting in.

“Look guys I’m okay really, anyways we need to get going,” Rory urged with a relaxed look on his face as he took hold of the hands of his new parents. By the time they had arrived at the rink the forty-ninth competitor was just finishing up his performance.

As Victor and Yuri worked hard to get Rory ready for his performance, the young boy couldn’t help but allow his mind to wonder as he looked out towards the crowded bleachers of cheering fans. 

All these people had traveled from all across the world to come out to cheer for their favorite skater. He had noticed a few Japanese flags being waved in the crowd, but seeing them didn’t fill Rory with a sense of pride like it should have considering if did rank he would be representing Japan on the national stage. All he could feel was a crippling anxiety as it donned on him why he felt so alone sitting there in this arena filled to the brim with people. Everyone who had skated had either a family or a nation backing them up...but what did he have? How long would Yuri and Victor stick around if he didn’t have what it took to qualify? With this thought tormenting his mind caused him to feel for the second time in his life what it felt like to feel small, insignificant, and profoundly alone. As Rory’s surrounding seemed to melt away as his hands clenched into fists he noted how he hated this feeling to his very core.

“Rory!” Rory heard being called in the distance but it wasn’t until he felt his cheeks being in engulfed in warmth did he truly snap back to reality. When his hazel eyes came back into focus all he could see were the tender and kind faces of his guardians as they both cupped his cheeks.

“You’re going to be okay. You have us remember,” Yuri stated firmly with a gentle smile.

“Yeah and no matter what happens out there on the ice you’ll still have us afterwards,” Victor assured as he gave the small boy a peck on his forehead.

“You promise?” Rory whispered in a desperate tone that caused both of his parents to realize what the boy was really asking for. What Rory needed the most was any ounce of reassurance no matter the magnitude to keep him from falling apart before them.

“We pinky swear,” both Yuri and Victor announced at the same time as they took hold of both Rory’s pinkies with their own. The gesture took the boy be surprise as hazel eyes widen slightly in realization before a peaceful smile graced his face.

“Then I promise to do my best for my new dads,” Rory whispered to them as he hugged them before stepping on to the ice. Rory’s words left the two speechless as they watched Rory glide to the center of the rink with his wavy hair slicked back, wearing a sparkling silk black suit with a black bow tie and gloves. 

Rory started the performance with a somber aura around him as the sound of a violin melody filled the air like sad gentle rain drops falling upon the space.

“Everyone this is Rory Lance, dancing to ‘A Regretful Goodbye’ composed by five time Emmy award winner Michael Richard Lance who also choreographed his routine.” The announcer spoke before Rory began gracefully moving across the ice.

This was my chance, Rory thought. As he allowed each sorrowful note to move through his body as he slowly breathed life into his birth father’s masterpiece he had left with the poor boy before his parents’ passed away. Rory could for the first time see those days clearly as his father patiently taught him the steps to his mother’s latest performance. It was an emotionally tearful ballad his parents had came up with as a sort of apology to him for leaving him alone at home so often due to their jobs.

Despite all the times he had to put on a smile as he waved goodbye to his parents, the boy held no bitterness towards them just an untold sadness he couldn’t spend a majority of the time his parents had left on the Earth with them. Deep down what crushed Rory the most was that he barely knew his parents just two absolute facts. The first one was that they were truly in love with one another. The second was that they had loved him unconditionally. 

He only had two minutes and forty seconds to convey the true extent of his emotions to his new father’s and he intended to make the most of that time. Rory thought with a sad smile that graced his face as he attempted a double salchow that he almost landed but he had to help balance himself with his hand. He couldn’t help but curse in his head as he focused on nailing the rest of his jumps. He needed to show Yuri and Victor that they weren’t wasting their time on him. Although Rory could see the large gap between him and his idols, the young boy was still determine to leap over that gap no matter how many leaps it took.  
\-------------------------------------------------  
“He’s beautiful,” Yuri commented with tears in his eyes. He looked on with wonder as the boy completed the rest of his jumps they had work so hard to perfect before the competition with flawless precision.

“I know, that was what I thought the first time I saw him preform this piece. Now all I can feel is worry in the pit of my gut,” Victor murmured as he gave Yuri’s hand a tight squeeze. Brown eyes soon fixated on Victor as his eyes followed every spin and gliding motion Rory made with sadness heavy in his eyes.

Yuri didn’t even need to ask why Victor looked so anxious. He already knew why. Victor had a few facts about figure skaters, and the one both of them could agree on was that the heart of a figure skater was extremely delicate. Knowing this to be true Yuri knew Victor was worried about these strong emotions of loneliness and sorrow Rory seemed to be able to harbor in such a small body...but for how long? The answer to that question was more than Yuri could bare as he turned his gaze back on Rory’s performance as he joined the multitude of people in that rink as his allowed his tears to fall faster. 

Despite all their worries their child, who was becoming more precious to them by the moment managed to place in the top ten by a narrow margin. Rory far exceeded both of their wildest imaginations by scoring 262 points with his free program they barely had enough time to prepare before the competition. Rory’s progress stunned Yuri the most as he could remember what he was like at Rory’s age. He couldn’t have achieved such a feet in such a short time frame and here was the boy he now knew as his son making it look easy. He couldn’t help but baring a proud smile as Rory clung to both him and Victor as they posed inside the botanical garden while a tourist took a picture of them.


	8. School is a thing kids do!!!

“I can’t believe you qualified in the top ten!” Yuri's mother cheered proudly with a brimming smile as she sat next to her husband while she video chatted with their grandson.

“I can,” Minako disagreed with an amused smile as she looked pointedly at Rory. “You weren’t nearly as flexible as you should have be. Were you skipping on your stretches?”

“Okay, okay. When I get home I promise to do those stretches everyday,” Rory answered with defeat heavy in his voice as he watched Minako redirect the phone towards her.

“You better do them twice a day if you know what’s good for you,” she huffed with amusement.

“Come on, stop being so hard on him. He did a great job,” Mrs. Katsuki reprimanded as she brought the camera back towards her face. “Anyways how many pork cutlet bowls should I put you down for?”

“Umm...well Victor says pork cutlets are only for wins so I’ll pass on it for now.”

“In that case put Victor and I down for two bowls each,” Yuri commented as he leaned towards Rory while continuing to pack their bags for their early flight back to Japan tomorrow morning.

Rory playfully pushed the older man off him as he scouted away from his guardians with the phone. “Scratch that order Grandma.”

“But why?” Victor whined out as he tried to grab the phone away from their foster son, who proceeded to move further away from them with a mischievous grin on his face.

“It’s because why should my coaches celebrate when they didn’t coach their trainee to getting first place? Shouldn’t you show some solidarity with me?” Rory questioned with a smirk.

“I think Rory has a point there. You two as his guardians should show your support by abstaining as well.”

“Mom, you spoil the little monster way too much,” Yuri interjected with an exasperated sigh.

“No I don’t. You and Victor don’t spoil him nearly as much as you should,” Mrs. Katsuki countered with a wink at Rory, which only made the boy’s face lighten up knowing at least he could count on his grandma to have his back. Before Yuri could protest against the annoying allegiance between his mother and his son, the room filled with a barking sound.

“Hey Makki, you liked my performance didn’t you?” Rory asked as the old dog pushed his way between Mrs. Katsuki and the camera. When Makkachin heard his voice he let out an excited bark before proceeding to lick the screen of the phone repeatedly.

“Awe thanks Makki, remind me to give you some extra treats when we get back.”

“Rory,” Victor called over sternly as he fixed Rory with a serious look. “What have I told you about over feeding Makkachin?”

“Don’t?” Rory answered with an innocent grin that caused Victor to shake his head in defeat before returning to the book he was reading on a sofa on the other side of the room. 

When Rory was sure Victor’s attention was no longer on him he turned back to his phone. “Don’t worry Makki, I got you,” he whispered with a wink.

“What was that Rory?” Victor questioned with amusement as he placed down his book. With one glance of the force smile Victor shot him caused the boy’s hazel eyes to widen slightly.

“Sorry guys got a go, I have to escape Victor’s wrath,” Rory giggled as he waved goodbye to everyone before the room descended into chaos. Yuri couldn’t help but sigh in exasperation and defeat as he watched his husband chase around their hyper active thirteen year old, who was running away from his impending tickle torture.  
————————————————————

“Morning, I brought black tea donuts to congratulate you guys on your first successful tournament coaching together,” Yuuko announced as she came into the dinning room of the hot spring with Minako in tow.

“Hey Yuuko and Minako, take a seat breakfast will be ready soon,” Yuri greeted as he poked his head from the kitchen as he prepared breakfast.

“Put me down for an omelette,” Minako called out as her and Yuuko made themselves comfortable at one of the dining tables Victor was sitting at enjoying a cup of coffee and the newspaper.

“Thank you Yuuko,” Victor thanked as he excepted the gift while placing it in the middle of table. “Rory will probably devour them when he gets back.”

“So, where is the brat anyways?” Minako questioned.

“He took Makkachin out for a jog two hour ago,” Victor replied with a slight raise of an eyebrow as he looked between the two women who looked like they were trying desperately to hold something back from him.

“Is there something wrong?” Victor questioned with concern itched into his features.

“Well-“

“Stop Minako, this is really is not our place,” Yuuko interrupted frantically just as Yuri came into the dining room with multiple plates of omelettes on one tray and small bowls of rice and a plate filled with fruits on the other tray.

“What are you two talking about?” Yuri questioned as he placed the trays on the table before taking a seat next to Victor.

“Look Yuuko, someone’s going to point it out sooner or later. Better now while they still have time,” Minako reasoned before turning back towards the two men that sat in front of her. “It has come to our attention that Rory’s unaware of being enrolled in a school is that correct?”

“School?!” Both Yuri and Victor questioned with looks of realization as it dawned on them that they had yet to think about anything other than skating in regards to Rory’s upbringing.

“I knew it. Why am I not surprised? It’s two weeks before the new school year and neither of you, idiots, have even thought of Rory’s future pass skating,” Minako reprimanded the new parents as she took a bite out of her omelette.

“Ahh...Minako, I told you to go easy on them. Parenthood is not exactly easy, but in a way Minako does have a point guys,” Yuuko stated as she fixed them with a disappointed look, while passing them a hand full of flyers. “These are flyers of all the junior high schools in the Hasetsu area still accepting students for the new school year.”

“You two stop worrying already all we have to do is get one out of these ten schools to enrol Rory by the end of the week, piece of cake,” Yuri commented as Victor continued to sort through the flyers.

“Whatever, just get it done before I get your mother involved,” Minako threatened causing both men to tense up slightly knowing very well that the old woman would not let them off the hook lightly especially since it was an issue involving her precious only grandchild.

————————————————————  
<<2 days later>>

“I see. So from what I have gathered about Rory, I believe he will make an excellent addition to our school,” a balding man with thick rimmed glasses wearing a brown suit spoke with a pleased look on his face.

“Really?” Yuri questioned with a relieved smile on his face as he turned towards an equally happy Victor.

“Why yes, the grades we received from his school in Canada were satisfactory. Plus there is the added bonus of the publicity the school would receive thanks to him skating on a national level,” the old man replied as he placed Rory’s application down on the desk. “All we have to do is fill out this application. Now...which one of you is his father?”

“We both are, sir,” Victor replied with a smile that slightly flattered when the principal of the school jerked up to look at them in confusion.

“I meant who is currently married or together with the boy’s mother?” The old man clarified with a strained smile as he looked between the two young men before him.

Victor flashed Yuri a worried look as he tightened his grip around the other man’s hand as panic started to set in. Yuri just shot a reassuring smile towards Victor before turning back to the principal. “Mr. Saito, I believe there is a little bit of a misunderstanding. Both Victor and I are married and we just recently adopted Rory making both of us his legal guardians and fathers,” Yuri explained slowly so there would be no room for any other misunderstandings or false interpretations.

“Well then gentleman, thank you for clearing that up. But unfortunately I will now have to deny Rory’s application form,” the old man replied as his once cheerful expression hardened into one of disdain. 

The change in reception and atmosphere shocked the two fathers as their worse fears started to sink in. “I don’t understand just a moment ago you said Rory would be a great fit here,” Yuri argued in a trembling voice as he tried to look the principal in the eye, but as the situation darkened he found his eyes fixated on his hands in his lap.

“Yes and he would have, but this is a very traditional school where every child has a mother and a father. To break from that tradition would be disruptive to other children and it would teach them that this type of relationship is acceptable...which it clearly is not,” the principal replied right before his secretary ushered them out of the office.

“Damn it,” Victor cursed with grid teeth as he loosened his tie slightly.

“I know, why does it even matter if Rory doesn’t have a conventional family at home?” Yuri questioned as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair as they stood outside their family car.

“You don’t think our relationship will hinder Rory’s ability to get an education do you?” Victor questioned leaving the atmosphere around them somber and quiet. 

As both men thought about what that question truly meant if it were true, caused images of Rory to pop into Yuri’s head. Whenever it involved Yuri or Victor, Rory would always give hundred and ten percent. At this point they still had nine more schools to try so they couldn’t give up now. They needed to work their hardest for Rory. The new found determination that flickered in Yuri's eyes did not go unnoticed by Victor as a smile graced his face while he opened up the door to the passenger’s seat for Yuri. 

“Let’s get out of here.”

“Yeah, I feel like Rory would've hate it here anyway,” Yuri stated as he got into the car before they drove away. 

Despite both of their best efforts they kept on being rejected not due to any fault of Rory’s but due to their none traditional relationship. By the end of the week both men were exhausted and depressed as they drowned their pain with alcohol at the dining table. As both of them sat in silence Yuuko came rushing into the dining room only to stop dead in her tracks as she saw the dispirited men who barely had the energy to acknowledge her presence.

“No luck on finding a school, huhn?” Yuuko questioned with a down caste look as she sat in front of the two men.

“What are you doing here Yuuko?” Yuri questioned as he went to take another sip from his glass; however, before he could Yuuko stopped him.

“Rory stopped by at our house on one of his jogs and told me he was worried about you two,” Yuuko answered in a quiet voice knowing that her answer would further lower the mood in the room; and she was correct.

“Can we do anything right?” Yuri muttered as he set his cup down with the force of all his frustrations causing a little bit of the glass’ contents to spill on to the table.

“What do you mean by that?”

“We sat through eight interviews and all of them rejected our sweet Rory. Just so they can maintain the status quo?” Victor grumbled in anger as tears started to flow down his face. The very sight caused Yuuko’s heart to crack but when she saw Yuri trying desperately to hold back his own tears her heart shattered.

“You said that you have one more school left right?”

“Yeah, Hasetsu Academy...but is there even a point? Maybe we should just get Minako to go in my place. Maybe that way Rory might have a fighting chance,” Yuri murmured in defeat.

“No you certainly will not!” Yuuko commanded snapping the boys out of their depression to look up at her in surprise. “How long are you guys going to let Minako step in whenever it’s convenient? What will that be teaching Rory? That it's okay to lie and hide who you are just because a few people disagree with you?”

“Stop it Yuuko! it’s not like we’ve been sitting around this whole week doing nothing!” Yuri yelled out in frustration and hurt.

“I know that!” Yuuko yelled back with equal frustration in her voice. “I can’t even start to imagine how you two must be feeling right now, but we have one final school. The one the triplets go to.”

“And how is that going to make a difference?” Victor questioned with an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

“Look, if we play our cards correctly I think we maybe able to get Rory into a school without you two needing to hide your relationship,” Yuuko replied before she started to outline her plan for tomorrow’s interview.  
————————————————————

“Rory stop fiddling with your tie,” Victor scolded as he bent down to fix up Rory’s appearance for what felt like the hundredth time that morning.

“But it’s uncomfortable,” Rory complained with a pout as he walked through the empty hallways of the Hasetsu Academy with his parents and Yuuko.

“Now, now Rory. Just bare with it for today. Remember what I told you about helping out your dad’s during the meeting?” Yuuko reminded as she bent down to Rory’s level with a warm smile.

“Oh right. If it’s for Yuri and Victor then I’ll do my best,” Rory answered with a determined smile as he walked a head of the grow-ups all pumped up for the mission Yuuko had explained to him earlier that day. She had explained to him the situation of his schooling and had told him to help out his father’s anyway he could during the meeting. Although Rory was a little fuzzy on the details he was intent on making both his fathers proud.

“Are you sure about getting Rory involved in this?” Victor questioned knowing that the little boy would not react well if the meeting didn’t go in their favor.

“Yeah, the other principals weren’t exactly nice when they heard about our family situation,” Yuri added.

“Look, I wouldn’t of got him involved without fully explaining the situation to the principal first. Despite knowing about you two he still agreed to hear you guys out. So have a little faith will you?” Yuuko reassured as they came face to face with the door to the principal’s office.

“I guess this is it,” Yuri muttered with anxiety as Victor knocked on the door. When they heard a voice welcoming them in Yuuko wished the boys luck as they stepped in without her.

“Why hello gentlemen, my name is Mr. Yamamoto,” a young looking man with a lose navy blue tie hanging around his neck and the sleeves of his yellow button up blouse rolled up, greeted with an amused smile on his face. 

The atmosphere of the room was different than what either Yuri or Victor expected giving the fact that this man knew all about their situation. 

“I gather you are Yuri and Victor. Mrs. Nishigori has told me all about your little predicament with placing young Rory in a school. Is that all correct?” Mr. Yamamoto questioned as he ran a hand through his combed back curl hair.

“That’s correct. We were hoping that your school maybe more accepting of our situation,” Victor answered with skepticism in his gaze as he tried to figure out the man that sat before his family in order to judge whether he could really trust the man would not bad mouth them in front of Rory.

“Well I can’t guarantee my decision will be any more favorable, but I like to at least hear a compelling argument before making up my mind first,” the man answered with a calm smile before flipping open Rory’s file.

“As far as academics are concern Rory’s a bright boy who fits the image of a well rounded individual my school would be more than please to help cultivate...but I am assuming you two already knew that. The only problem Rory faces right now is not having a socially acceptable parental unit to go home to-“

“What do you mean I don’t have a socially acceptable parental unit? I have Yuri and Victor,” Rory piped in as he got out of his seat to face the principal. The very action caused Yuri and Victor to panic but before they could do anything the principal put out a hand to stop them before turning back to the boy in front of him glaring daggers at him from in front of his mahogany desk.

“I mean based on our current society, every child who wants to be enrolled in school should have a support system of parents that fit into the classic mother and father role or at least have guardians who are heterosexual,” the principal replied in a calm manner despite the death glares he was receiving from Rory’s parents.

“Mother and father roles? I think they play both,” Rory stated as he told the principle about the times Victor would be very strict about his skating, while at the same time always making sure he was brushing his teeth, hair, or bathing properly. He also mentioned how Yuri always cooked his lunch boxes and snacks that they took along with them during the days he spent training with them. 

As the principal listened intently on the argument Rory was forming he couldn’t help but let out a genuine smile as he thought of ways to counter the child’s position on the matter. “Even so, what would the other children and parents think?”

“Does that really matter? I have been adopted by like ten families that fit your model of a perfect family and out of all them I've never felt more safe or happy than with these two,” Rory countered easily as he stared up at the principal with determination burning in his hazel eyes, which only caused the principal’s smile to grow wider as he was unable to think of a counter to disregard Rory’s statement. Seeing this Rory pressed on. 

“I don’t really see what the problem is. I see no difference in the love I see between those two and my parents who gave birth to me. And, I see no difference between how they are raising me in comparison. I mean the only difference is that both of them have way too much time on their hands to fawn over me.”

“Well you two should be proud, you have a very intelligent boy on your hands,” the principal congratulated as he turned his attention back on to Yuri and Victor who looked on at the situation with shock evident on their faces. “So let’s say I were to offer you a spot in my school are you confident that your guardians would help you maintain a good grade despite your skating career?”

This question seemed to stomp Rory for several seconds before the principal’s let out a quiet chuckle as he saw a serious look return the boy’s face. “Before Victor and Yuri found me I could barely skate on a professional level and in three months after being trained by them I was able to qualify as a pro junior figure skater ranking in the top ten. So if you give them a chance I promise that I’ll work hard in both my studies and skating.”

“You do realize what you are promising me, right?” The principal questioned with warm amusement clear on his face. Rory’s eyes remained unwavering as he nodded. “Fine then if you can keep your grades within the top ten among your peers. Then we will accommodate your skating schedule.”

“And if he can’t maintain this grade point average?” Yuri piped in with a nervous voice as he squeezed Victor’s hand slightly along with the other hand he had resting on Rory’s shoulder.

“Well then I certainly can’t kick you out, but I can assure you that it won’t be easy for either Rory’s skating career or his interactions with his classmates,” the principal replied bluntly. There was no malice in his tone just seriousness. A seriousness that told them he was merely pointing out the reality of things. The school couldn’t give them any extra favors if Rory did not perform in his academics and if he didn’t preform well everyone would blame his family situation.

Realizing this fact caused Rory’s teeth to clench. He was not going to let the two people who actually cared about him down. He didn’t want to be the reason that Victor and Yuri felt ashamed of their relationship ever again. “Then I won’t allow that to happen!”

“Very good, then I look forward to seeing your progress Mr. Lance,” the principal acknowledged as he got out the registration papers to hand to Victor and Yuri.


	9. First day of school!!!

April 2021

“Rory! Why aren’t you up yet?” Victor questioned in a stern voice as he tried to pull the young boy out of bed, who was desperately holding on to Makkachin in an attempt to hold on to what was left of his sleep. When Victor had finally got the boy out of bed his nose cringed up as the smell of sweat and body odor hit him. “Rory what have I told you about sleeping in your gym wear after an early morning run?” Victor scolded with an amused exhausted look as Rory murmured out a sleepy reply before heading into his bathroom.

“How’s he doing? Does he look nervous?” Yuri questioned as he peeked his head through the door with slight concern evident on his face by the frown his eyebrows made.

“Not sure,” Victor shrugged as he started to lay out Rory’s school uniform on the bed next to the still sleeping poodle. “I am guessing we’ll probably know more when the monster wakes up a little more.”

Yuri sighed slightly as he watched Rory’s arm throw his jogging clothes into the laundry hamper outside the bathroom door before they heard the shower turn on. “I told him to take a break from training, at least until he was settled in school,” Yuri remarked as he started to help Victor by packing the child’s bag with new school supplies.

“Why doesn’t that child ever listen?” Yuri questioned with amusement playing at the corners of his lips.

“I wonder where he gets that from?” Victor questioned back as he placed a kiss on his husband’s forehead right before Yuri started to head out of the room with Rory’s back pack. “Breakfast will be done in ten.”  
————————————————————

“Awe man,” Rory whined in between bits of his omelette as Victor buttoned up the top button to his black form fitting blazer. “Just when I think I’m free from all these formal clothes you find some other reason to torture me with them,” Rory pouted as he squirmed away from Victor’s reach.

“Come on Rory enough whining. I think you look adorable,” Victor complimented as he admired his handy work in actually being able to get the combative teen into his uniform, which consist of a black button up blazer that buttoned all the way up his neck and a matching pair of black pants.

“The schools in Canada never made me wear an annoying uniform.”

“Well this isn’t Canada. Over here school’s take wearing your uniform quite seriously,” Yuri warned as he handed Rory his back pack and the bento Mrs. Katsuki had made for him. 

“And if your finished your belly aching. You should get your sorry behind to school before your late,” Minako commented as she pinched Rory’s cheek a little bit too hard.

“Fine, fine! I’m going,” Rory yelled as he struggled away from Minako while rubbing his soar cheek.

“Well then I hope you have a great day at school and make lots of new friends.” Was what he heard from his grandma as he passed her on his way out of the house. 

Having a good day at school? Rory thought as he rode his bike to school with a perplexed look on his face. He couldn’t remember if he ever had a good day of school in his life. Back in Canada he often kept to himself partly because all the other children would pick on him since he’s parents were rarely around and partly because he found going home and watching his mother’s old skating competitions a hundred times more interesting then trying to pander to children who would never understand him. 

With a sigh he came to the conclusion that he would just have to fabricate a lie to ease everyone’s worries later. After all, he doubted his school life would be any different especially since he’s life was more complicated then it was back in his days in Canada. Best not to get my hopes up, he thought as he dismounted his bike in front of a large white building surrounded by pink cherry blossom trees. If anything that weird principal sure had a beautiful school. Rory notes as he locked up his bike and headed into the large glass doors of the school.  
————————————————————  
“Although this is a new school year, we have a new student in our class. Who is not only new to our school but new to our country. I hope you all welcome and help out Rory Lance, a new student coming all the way from Canada to learn with us,” a tall woman with glasses and her black hair tied up into a bun, wearing a short sleeve light pink dress top and a long black skirt, announced as she signaled Rory to enter the classroom.

Rory hesitated for a moment dreading the fact that his teacher, Mrs. Ito, thought it was a brilliant idea to shine a spotlight on the new kid. Sometimes he felt that adults had either forgotten what it was like to be a kid or really just didn’t care. As he watched the woman gesture to him again to come into the classroom he had a sneaking suspicion it was a little bit of both. 

As Rory entered the classroom he couldn’t help but feel his skin crawl slightly as a room full of eyes followed his every movement. “Now Rory, please introduce yourself to your new classmates.”

Great an introduction? Rory thought with an inward sigh knowing this day was probably going to be the furthest from a great one. When Rory was confident he had remembered how Yuri had taught him to introduce himself to his classmates in Japanese he struggled through it with a somewhat shaky voice not because of the language barrier between him and his classmates, but more because he wasn’t use to this type of attention. 

When he was in Canada if there was a new student they weren’t introduced to the whole class. They just kind of showed up and everyone would just know they were new and after that you could either chose to be friendly or chose to ignore them completely and carry on with your every day school life. Somehow he rather that method because at least it would have given him the choice to fly underneath the radar instead of embarrassing himself in front everyone. He thought as he ignored the silent laughter and the hushed whispers of the word foreigner. He just took it in as he sat at a desk in the back row, pretending he couldn’t understand them. It was easy to do since he knew many them probably thought he couldn’t understand a lick of Japanese due to his appearance.

Throughout the remainder of the morning Rory focused all his attention on trying to take down notes in math and history, so much so, he had barely noticed when recess had started.

“Hell-hello Rory,” he heard stammered out only to look up to see three girls in front of him. The girl that had spoke had short brown hair pulled back into pigtails sporting a black skirt and white button blouse with a thin black bow around her neck.

“Hello,” Rory replied cautiously.

“My name is Himari,” the girl with the pigtails introduced herself with a brimming smile as she pointed towards her friends, Sara and Akari, to introduce them to him. Sara had long straight black hair pulled out of her face with a white hair band and she wore thin framed glasses, while Akari had her dark brown hair styled into pixie cut. 

When Rory did not immediately reply to their greetings they looked at one another in curiosity. “Sorry, we’re not the best with English. Can you understand Japanese?”

“Yep, getting better at speaking and understanding the language more and more each day,” Rory replied as he turned back to his work hoping the girls would get the hint that he wasn’t in the mood to deal with their taunting no matter how nice they may seem.

“That’s great tell us all about Canada then,” Sara stated as all of them took up seats around his desk. Seeing this caused Rory to sigh as his Grandma’s words came into his mind about making friends. I guess it would hurt to at least try, he thought as he started to describe his home town of Edmonton. As he spoke all three seemed to be leaning on the edge of their seats in interest.

“So you grew up figure skating that is so cool!” Akari boomed with excitement.

“Come to think of it, I sometimes see you running around the town with a dog...are you in some kind of training program?” Himari questioned.

“Sort of my fathers have been training me for a big skating competition starting in August.”

“No way! Then the rumors are true then,” Akari stated causing Rory’s eye brows to frown slightly in confusion.

“What rumors?”

“There's a rumor going around that you’re a pro-skater being trained by two skating legends. Of which one of them is the dream boat Victor Nikiforov!” Sara explained as her body melted into her chair when she mentioned the Russian skater’s name.

“I guess that's all pretty accurate,” Rory stated as he mauled over Sara’s explanation in his head.

“No way, I would just die if I lived with the Nikiforov,” Sara stated with a dream like expression on her face. 

These girls are almost as crazy as the triplets if not crazier, Rory thought as he looked up at them slightly disturbed. “You do realize Victor’s married right?”

“Shhh...let her have her fantasies,” Himari giggled. “Well anyways do you have any clips of your skating?” 

Although the girls were weird and profoundly confusing to Rory they didn’t seem like bad people to him so he allowed his guard to lower slightly, as he flipped through his phone to show them a video the triplets took of one his practice runs before his last competition. When the girls saw his performance they couldn’t help but squeal loudly; however, to Rory’s fortune their reactions were lost in the background noise of chatter from the other children.

“You really weren’t kidding, you're amazing Rory,” Akari complimented causing Rory to look away slightly to hide his blush. It was the first time he had ever heard someone praise his skating apart from those he considered his family.

“She's right you're almost as beautiful as Victor-sama...you wouldn’t happen to be looking for girlfriend are you?” Sara questioned boldly as she took hold of both Rory’s hands.

The sudden closeness caused Rory to reflexively break away from her. “No I’m not,” Rory answered with no hesitation.

“Oh so cold,” Sara sulked with dramatic tears as she cried into Himari’s arms.

“I know, we should form a Rory Lance fan club and root for him during all his competitions!” Akari declared causing all the girls to instantly agree as they turned away from Rory to start making preparations. Weird, was all Rory could think as the bell rung to reconvene with classes. 

During the next break for lunch time, Rory quickly escaped from classroom in order to have a somewhat sane hour to himself. He carried his bento towards the roof that the principal had shown him on a tour of the school after they had finished their meeting that took place last week. 

When Rory opened the door that led to the roof what he saw caused him to stop dead in his tracks as he watched a boy with messy wavy blond hair that partially covered his bright blue eyes getting beaten up by three older boys. With a sigh Rory knew he could have easily had turned around and pretend he never saw the situation...he only wished he was that type guy. He thought as he felt himself charging into the situation as he pushed passed the bullies to protect the boy.

“Who the hell are you shrimp? Get the hell out of our way this kid owes us some lunch money,” one of the bullies stated before trying to push Rory out of there way; however, Rory made sure he stood his ground.

“Then why don’t you shake down your parents for the money, instead of stealing from other kids,” Rory retorted with defiance heavy in his piercing hazel eyes.

“Fine then, why don’t you take his place?” The bullies suggested as one of them punched Rory across the face but to the boys’ surprise Rory did not waver for a moment as blazing hazel eyes flared back at them until they had no choice but to stand down and run away to go pick on another kid, one that they could intimidate.

When the boys were gone, Rory bent down to help the boy behind him up. “Thanks,” the boy whispered as he pulled out a handkerchief out towards Rory causing him to realize his lip was bleeding slightly. He took the baby blue cloth and started to dab his lip as he looked at his uniform for any signs of blood knowing quite well Victor would have his head if he ruined his uniform on the first day.

“My name’s Toya Russo,” the boy managed in a whisper as he sat down next to Rory on the ground with their backs up against the protective fence around the roof top.

“My name-“

“Is Rory Lance, I know because I’m in your class,” the boy answered with a sheepish grin as Rory looked up at him in surprise as he tried really hard to remember if he had seen him before but he kept on drawling a blank.

“Sorry, I was pretty nervous this morning. I don’t think I got a good look of anyone’s face.”

“It’s okay. It’s tough being the new kid especially when you look like a foreigner like we do,” Toya stated with an understanding look that caused Rory to smile genuinely for the first time that day.

“Yeah I guess you do understand. Where are you from anyways?”

“Well I was born in Italy, but I have lived my whole life in Japan. My mother, a Japanese woman, met my father when she traveled aboard as a journalist but they didn’t stay married for very long and then she moved back to Japan to write for the local newspaper,” Toya explained in a shy tone before looking towards Rory to explain his origin story next.

“For me my mother was an Indian woman who eloped with my father who was half Irish and half Australian when they met in the University of Edmonton. They then had me before pursuing my mother’s dream to be a world famous figure skater. However, both of them died in a car accident as they were heading to the Grand Prix Finals hosted in Canada two years ago. But a couple of months ago, the famous figure skater Victor adopted me and brought me back to Japan to train me,” Rory explained looking up towards the sky with a confused look on his face as he wondered why he had just opened up to a complete stranger like that. Was it because he could see similarities between the boy next to him and himself? Or was it the calming air the boy seemed to give off? Whatever it was that made Rory trust Toya made Rory believe that maybe for once in his life he could lower the barrier he kept between him and everyone else and finally make a friend.

“Well now that we have shared our deepest darkest secrets I guess that makes us friends now, huhn?”

“Wait what?! You want to be friends with me...are you sure?” Toya questioned in shock as his blue eyes widened slightly at the now confused Rory.

“Sure, why not?”

“I don’t know, I guess no one’s ever really asked to be my friend before,” Toya answered with an excited smile.

“Well us foreigners have to stick together, right?” Rory answered with a smile as he unwrapped his bento causing Toya’s stomach to growl loudly. “Do you want some? My grandma always makes me too much food anyway,” Rory stated handing him a tray filled with rice, sushi, and pork cutlets.

“Wow, I can really have all this?” Toya questioned as he looked over to see Rory eating out of a tray with similar contents.

“Yeah, if I eat all this I’ll have to do an extra run to make sure I maintain my weight.”

“Oh right your a figure skater...I guess it must be difficult, huhn?”

“Not really, I have a lot of fun training with my dads so it never feels like a chore I guess,” Rory answered with a brimming smile, which caught Toya off guard slightly.

“You must really love skating.” Toya questioned with a quiet laugh as he watched Rory’s head bob up and down in agreement.

“I overheard the girls talking about making a fan club to support your skating. Would you mind if I joined?”

“You're a fan of skating as well?” Rory questioned in disbelief as he looked over towards Toya.

“Well not exactly. I have only watched one skating competition with my mom four years ago. It was the one Yuri Katsuki made history in,” Toya explained excitedly before calming himself down with a clearing of his throat. “Sorry you probably already know of Yuri Katsuki.”

“Well I sure hope so, after all, he is one of my dads,” Rory answered with amusement as he watched Toya choke down his food in shock.

“No way, that’s unbelievable...he’s kind of my favorite figure skater.”

“Mine too,” Rory agreed with a widening smile as he found himself over the moon with happiness that he had found another Yuri fan. Here he thought today was not going to be a good day. He was glad he was proved wrong.

“I guess you can join my fan club...after all it is a free country...and it would be cool to actually know a few faces in the crowd,” Rory replied with a slight blush of embarrassment. 

As Rory’s day continued he couldn’t help but look at everything in a brighter light. He had such a good day at school Yuri and Victor didn’t know what to make of it after seeing their thirteen year old son walking into the hot springs with a bruised cheek and lip grinning like a kid on Christmas Day.  
When asked about his day none of them had ever seen the child so animated while talking about anything other than skating before. Yes that day was a great day and Rory could hardly wait for many more great days at school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so I know that I said would be uploading weekly, but I didn't think I would be able to get through this many chapters so I will be updating the story as I finish each chapter. Please enjoy and review.


	10. The Free Program!!!

May- June 2021

“Victor, what is the reason for this meeting?” Rory whined as he slumped down in the dining room next to Yuri. Who was sitting at a table with a pissed of looking Minako, as well as, a barely alive looking Nishigori family. As the boy watched Victor finish setting up a white board, Rory couldn’t help but snuggle into Yuri's arm and close his eyes. He was no stranger to early mornings since he had been waking up at five everyday to get in a good run before school, but somehow waking up an hour earlier after going to bed late due to homework was crippling to say the least. 

“I have brought you all here today to discuss what should be the topic of Rory’s free program going into the Junior Grand Prix season starting in four months,” Victor announced finally with a brimming smile that seemed to be just a tad bit too bright for those in the room who let out a resounding groan.

“Victor,” Rory called out with an annoyed glare. “Why can’t we just use the free program I performed at the World Junior Figure Skating Championship?”

“Look I only choreographed that free program, because we ran out of time to think of anything better.”

“I’ll have to agree with Victor on this one kid. That free program was kind of bland in comparison to your short program,” Minako agreed as the coffee in front of her started to kick in and make her appear more personable.

“Yeah what you need is a free program that means just as much to you as your short program if not more,” Yuuko piped in with excitement as the word ‘skating’ alone was enough to awake her from her slumber on the dining table.

“Fine I get it,” Rory huffed with annoyance as he ran a hand through his hair to comb his hair away from his eyes. “What do guys have in mind then?”

“That’s the thing. Both Yuri and I spent the week brainstorming possible themes that would compliment your short program...but we kept on drawling blanks.”

“Hmmm...so the short program is about Rory dealing with the passing of his parents...is that correct?” Takeshi questioned as his face crunched up in a thoughtful expression. Takeshi was the father of the Nishigori triplets, Yuuko’s loving husband, and Yuri childhood friend. His suggestion seemed to peek the interest of his sleeping daughters curled around their parents trying to get as much sleep as this would allow them too.

“Dad’s on to something!” Axel announced with excitement as she sat up in her chair along with her other two sisters. This caused all eyes to be redirected towards them as everyone knew when those girls displayed identical devious smiles the following suggestion could either end terribly or end well for them. They were all hoping for the later option.

“We could base the free program on Rory’s life after meeting you two!” Loop beamed.

“That way you guys could compliment Rory’s mournful short program with a more happy and uplifting free performance!” Lutz added before she stood up slamming her hands on the table; successfully waking everyone up. “The over arching theme could be resilience!”

Resilience...Rory thought as he watched the rest of the meeting proceed as everyone started yelling out their thoughts and ideas on the theme. The meeting ended with enough time for Rory to eat breakfast and get ready for school. From the way that Victor made him promise to continue to think about what resilience meant to the young boy this issue was far from being resolved.  
—————————————————————  
“Hey, did you guys see the announcement about the first official skating competitions of the season?” Himari questioned as she became more animated as the newly formed Ice skating fan club gathered around her desk directly in front of Rory’s desk so he could add his input without really being apart of the club.

“Oooo, I heard the local competitions start August 5th and one of them is taking place right here in Japan. It's a competition to see which of the qualifying Japanese skaters will represent Japan in the Junior Grand Prix!” Sara added in with equal excitement.

“Does that mean we’ll get to see Rory’s skating in person?” Toya questioned as he looked over to his friend to notice the boy wasn’t paying attention to the lively meeting in front of him.

“That’s correct Toya, now all we have to do is think of a catchy cheer,” Akari answered as the girls took over the meeting by yelling out cheer combinations as Toya’s eyes continued to fixate on Rory’s face that appeared to be deep in thought while he stared out the window.

What did resilience mean anyway? Rory thought as he remembered the definition of resilience he had looked up during English class. According to the oxford dictionary, resilience meant the ability for someone to recover from an unpleasant event or trauma that they have experienced. Rory understood what the word meant in a literal sense, but what did that word mean to him? How could he convey the meaning to the world in three minutes and thirty seconds?

Was he really considered resilient all because he could still smile despite what happened two years ago? Resilience meant having the strength to come out of a sticky situation, to face the bad things that have happened and come out stronger on the other side. Did that really apply to him? After all, the only reason he was able to come this far has not been due to his own efforts alone...didn’t that make him weak in a way? 

All these questions crashed through Rory’s head throughout the remainder of the school day. By the end of the day he made no further progress then thinking up more questions that left the boy further away from reaching an answer. Why was this so difficult? Rory thought as he walked into the hot springs for dinner after training at the Ice Castle.

“Oh Rory, why do you look so down? Did something happen at school?” Rory heard Mrs. Katsuki question with worry heavy in her warm brown eyes. 

“No not really...it’s more of a skating problem,” Rory answered thinking that, that would be the end of the conversation. However, it was just the beginning as he felt himself being dragged into the dining room.

“So what is this skating problem?” Mrs. Katsuki finally asked once she had placed a cup of tea in front of Rory, while she sat down across from him with her own cup of tea. Although reluctant at first he soon found himself telling the old lady everything from the theme of his free program to his worries about how to convey it in his skating.

“Well it sounds like you are in a bit of a bind, huhn?”

“That’s an understatement, Grandma,” Rory whined as he collapsed on the table in front of her with a frustrated sigh.

“Now, now. All because the answer is out of reach now doesn’t it’s hopeless.”

“I know, know but I just don’t know what to do,” the boy stated with another sigh. Before Mrs. Katsuki could think of anything else to say they heard some chirping coming from behind them. When they turned towards the sound they saw Victor carrying Haru’s box into the dining room in order to refill his little home with water and more bird feed.

“Sorry to interrupt you two but do you mind looking after the little guy while I restock his box?” Victor questioned as he placed the white shoe box filled to the brim with thin sticks and cotton for Haru to snuggle into.

“I’ll go help Victor in the kitchen. You my dear, don’t run away. I promise we’ll get to the bottom of this problem,” Mrs. Katsuki promised as she kissed his forehead before disappearing into the kitchen.

“Hey little guy, feeling any better?” Rory questioned as he lifted the small white and brown sparrow out of his box and placed him on the table in front of him. Rory watched with a warm smile as the little guy hopped around the table cheerfully chirping every now and then and flapping his bandaged wings in an attempt to fly.

“Have I ever told you the story on how I met Haru?” Rory heard as Victor sat next to him with a hand full of bird feed for Haru to peck at.

“No, what happened to him?” Rory questioned as he pointed to the bird’s bandages. Victor told him how one morning he was lounging outside with Makkachin on a warm October day when Makkachin’s ears perked up slightly before Victor found himself running after his brown poodle. They soon found themselves in their neighbour’s backyard where they saw a stray cat with a frantic bird hanging out of the cat’s mouth by the bird’s wings. Makkachin was able to scary the cat enough for it to drop its prey and scurry away. However, by the time Victor could scoop up the small guy and get him to a vet there wasn’t much the veteran could do other then bandage the bird’s broken wings and hope it would be enough to help heal the bird, so Haru could one day fly again.

“Wow, I didn’t know...do you think Haru will fly again?” Rory whispered as he gazed at the poor bird with sadness as the small creature hopped in a circle around his food while he happily pecked at the food. 

“Well, Haru reminds me of you sometimes. When I met you a couple months ago you too were also grounded, but then you worked hard to master all your jumps. Haru’s also working hard too. So I am sure he’ll fly again someday,” Victor reassured as he ruffled Rory’s hair before he placed Haru back in his box when Mrs. Katsuki came out of the kitchen with a small bowl filled with seeds and another one filled with water. She quickly handed the bird supplies to Victor before sitting down so she could keep her promise to Rory.

“Now where were we?” Mrs. Katsuki asked taking another sip of her now cold tea.

“Umm...I think I may have found the solution to my problem,” Rory announced as he sprang to his feet with new found resolve. Both adults in the room were left speechless as Rory gently petted Haru before thanking him and running off towards his room.

When Rory was finally alone in his room he started to rummage through the boxes of stuff Victor had sent to the hot springs when Sister Gale had called about finding more of his stuff up in storage two months ago. As Rory searched box after box, his room was a mess with his mother and father’s old items their old landlord had allowed him to keep. He was starting to lose hope when he found a box labelled ‘music’ that made his face light up. The box was filled with a multitude of his father’s old CDs. The one he had picked out had the word ‘fly’ scribbled across it. The CD held his father's most prized song that he had ever created on it. It was also the song he was listening to the first time he had ever seen his mother skate.

Rory had thought of this song when Victor had told him about how Haru and him were similar in a way. Both of them had experienced something horrible that would change their lives forever. But despite it all both them had the power to keep on fighting and moving forward thanks to those around them. Accepting the love of others didn’t make him weak, his favorite figure skater had taught him that along time ago. Rory thought as he remembered the first ever televised interview he had watched Yuri do. He had thought it ridiculous that Yuri thought that the love he received from others would change the course of his skating career but with each stage of the Grand Prix that year had convinced Rory that those words were true.

For the next couple of months Rory worked hard with Victor and Minako, who helped to choreography his free program. Minako helped him incorporate a graceful fluttering component to his skating that made him truly look like a bird taking flight. What resilience meant to Rory was the freedom untether one self from all the baggage keeping them grounded. Resilience was the freedom to allow yourself to accept a second chance with the trust that tomorrow will be better if only you allow yourself to keep on moving forward. By time June had rolled around everyone who had showed up to that early morning meeting in May were mystified as they witnessed Rory’s performance that started off with graceful, soft, and happy upbeat movements, but what really moved them all was when Rory took flight in the second half of his performance. Despite the increased difficulty in his jumps that required him to have more rotations the boy truly looked free, peaceful, and serene.


	11. YAYAYA! Festival!!!

July 2021

“Hey Yuri why is my training schedule blank on Sunday, July 15th?” Rory questioned as he crossed out Friday, July 13th, after completing all his training and homework for the day.

“Well that’s because Victor and I decided that you needed the day off so we cancelled your time scheduled at the rink for that day,” Yuri explained as he took a sip of tea as he watched the news with Makkachin snuggled into his side.

“So how am I meant to spend the day if I can’t train?” Rory questioned with annoyance as he tried to pencil in an extra run or a training regimen before he felt the pencil being plucked out of his hand.

“Perhaps you could be a normal kid and hang out with these friends we keep on hearing so much about,” Victor suggested as he waved the pencil in Rory’s face inches away from his reach.

“Now, Victor stop bullying him,” Mrs. Katsuki reprimanded as she set the table for dinner. 

“Grandma, can you please make them let me practice on Sunday?” Rory whined as he slumped down in one of the seats around the dining table.

“I am sorry Rory, but they’re right you’ve been working extremely hard and you deserve a break.”

“And what if I don’t want to take a break?” Rory pouted with a cute glare that was directed at the adults before him. What came next shocked everyone as they watched Yuri’s father walk in with a cheerful grin brightening his old features.

“Guess who won a ticket to take your family to the festival this Sunday?” The old man announced as he slapped the multiple entry ticket down on the table.

“Did you say this Sunday?” Rory questioned with growing interest as his face lit up with excitement. 

“Sure did. So, what will it be? You want to go?” 

“Of course! I’ve read all about Japanese festivals! I want to try all the food, the games, and I want to try wearing a yukata,” Rory boomed with excitement as he grabbed the pencil from Victor so he could pencil in the festival on the calendar.

“What about training Rory?” Victor questioned with a laugh.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about? It clearly says festival on the calendar,” the young boy declared, as if he was not the same boy who was whining about them cancelling his training only moments ago. 

“Whatever you say,” Victor scoffed as he pulled Rory into a bear hug and started tickling the poor boy.

“H-h-hey stop it. Stop it,” Rory giggled out before squirming his way out of the hug. “By the way is it okay if I invite a friend to come with us?” Rory huffed out as he hide behind Yuri in order to put some space between him and Victor.

“Oh, a friend you say this wouldn’t happen to be a girlfriend would it?” Mr. Katsuki teased with a smile that grew as he watched Rory deadpan with annoyance.

“It’s nothing like that! I’m inviting a boy from my class,” Rory retorted as he walked into the kitchen to wash his hands for dinner.

“So, you're inviting your boyfriend then?” Victor asked with amusement, earning him a glare from the young boy as he rejoined them in order to have dinner.

“Victor, what have I told you about bullying Rory?” Mrs. Katsuki questioned with a displeased tone that stopped the juvenile laughter in the room instantly. “Now Rory you can invite as many friends as you like.” 

———————————————————-  
Rory waited eagerly with excitement until Sunday evening rolled around. He was just finishing up a six-kilometer run through Hasetsu making sure to keep away from the areas where the festival was taking place. As the wind whipped through his hair he heard Makkachin start to bark with excitement as the old poodle turned around intrigued by a figure waving to them from behind. When Rory stopped and turned around he saw Toya riding his bike extremely out of breath.

“Toya what are you doing here?” Rory questioned as he took out his earbuds. 

“Oh, you passed my house a few kilometers back and I tried to get your attention, but it looks like you couldn’t hear me,” Toya gasped out as the boy finally caught up to them. For a second Rory barely recognized the boy dressed in a bright baby blue yukata and a professional camera hanging across his neck since he was so used to seeing Toya in nothing but a school uniform day in and day out.

“Looks like your ready for the festival,” Rory stated as he motioned for Toya to follow him as he began jogging again. “Want to race me back to my house so I can get ready?”

“You seriously still have energy? You passed by my house like three kilometers ago,” the slightly taller boy stated with disbelief that only turned to dread as Rory picked up the pace.

“Well of course I still have a lot of energy since I cut my daily run in half,” Rory replied with a nonchalant tone that only earned him a raised eyebrow in return.

“Are you even human?”

“Hey if you aren’t careful, I’ll leave you behind in my dust,” Rory warned as he led the way to his house while Toya struggled to follow after him.  
————————————————————

“Next time you declare a race remind me to not to even try and just declare you the winner,” Toya wheezed out as he slumped down on Rory’s front porch. 

“Maybe that would be for the best you look like your going to pass out while Makki here is twice your age and he could go for another run. Isn’t that right boy?” Rory stated as he petted the poodle as Makkachin started to lick his face.

“Oh, Rory you’re finally back. I place the yukata we picked out for you on your bed...” Mrs. Katsuki trailed off as her eyes fell upon Toya still panting on the front porch. “This must be your friend from school. Where are your manners Rory? You should invite him and introduce him properly.”

“It’s okay Mrs. Katsuki, I don’t mind catching my breath out here,” Toya stated while fanning himself. 

“You raced Rory, didn’t you?” Mrs. Katsuki questioned with an understanding look as Toya replied with a node of his head. “Yeah that was your first mistake,” the old woman giggled as she went in to get the young boy a drink of water.

“I’ll be back soon okay?” Rory stated as he ran to his room to get ready. When Rory was ready, he walked into the dining room where he saw everyone sitting around the television waiting patiently for him. Rory wore a bright green yukata with a pattern of small light green flying birds.

“Oh, look who decided to show up. Weren’t you band from training today?” Lutz questioned in annoyance wearing a beautiful cheery blossom kimono with different shades of pink that darkened as you look down towards the end of the kimono. Her sisters wore similar kimonos, but Axel’s kimono was lavender and Loop wore a blue colored one.

“Yuri said I could go out for a quick run to burn off some energy,” Rory replied as he stuck his tongue out at the triplets.

“Since everyone is now ready and accounted for, shall we get going?” Victor questioned as he stepped in the middle of the four children in hopes they wouldn’t be delayed any further by an impending brawl.  
————————————————————

“Wow is this really still downtown Hasetsu?” Rory questioned as he looked around the festival grounds in wonder. To a boy like Rory the sight he saw before him was magical as the streets were lit with paper lanterns of different colors and the air filled with an array of tasty smells and laughter. 

As Yuri and Victor watched as their son wondered around with every new attraction grabbing his attention, the two couldn’t help but worry. “Rory.” Victor called out to Rory as he pried him away from a street vender selling strawberry crepes. 

“What?! Don’t tell me there are rules?” Rory whined as he saw both his guardians bend down to his level.

“Of course, there are rules,” Victor scoffed. 

“Rule number one you can’t just wonder off on your own. Rule number two we’re leaving Toya in charge of you so please don’t make trouble for him. And finally, we’re only giving you 1500¥ so spend it wisely,” Yuri declared with a warm smile as he watched Rory’s face morph into a pout.

“Wait why is Toya in charge anyway?” Rory demanded as he pointed angrily at his friend who wish he could remove himself from this family squabble. It had been half an hour since the boy had met the rowdy family and he was already overwhelmed by the different interactions.

“Out of the two of you he seems more reliable. But if you don’t want Toya to be your keeper there is always the triplets. So, take your pick?” Victor bargained as he watched the young boy’s face go pale before agreeing to allow Toya to be in charge.

“Why does everyone think you’re the responsible one?” Rory pouted as they followed the group as everyone started to explore the different stalls.

“I mean it could be worse-“ Toya started right before his sentence was interrupted by a sharp squeal that stopped everyone around them as they turned towards the source of the out burst. When Rory turned to see a girl with long black hair, glasses, and a lime green kimono running towards them. He couldn’t help but deadpan knowing that the situation just got worse.

“Oh my gosh it’s Victor Nikiforov!” Sara squealed out when she got closer towards Rory’s family with her other two friends running after her. 

“Who are they?” Yuri questioned in shock.

“Family, meet my fan club,” Rory murmured with dread.

As the family watched the overly excited girl charge towards them Victor looked down at Rory with a worried look on his face. “Should I be afraid?” Victor questioned as Sara stopped in front of him with a pen and a bag filled with Victor related merchandise.

“I am your biggest fan! So, could I get your autograph?” The girl demanded as she tried to catch her breath.

“Funny, I thought you said she was a part of your fan club?” Victor teased as he ruffled Rory’s hair to cool the growing irritation in the young boy’s face.

“Yeah Sara! How are we suppose to launch the Rory’s Chicks fan club if you’re like this?” Akari reprimanded as she pulled a whining Sara away from Victor.

“Your fandom’s going to be called Rory’s Chicks?!” Minako laughed out holding her sides. The very sight caused Rory to snap as he stomped over to the girls.

“Didn’t I tell you guys that I hated that name!”

“Well it was either that or Rory’s Goddesses,” Himari stated with a cheerful grin unfazed by the anger erupting from the boy standing in front of her. When Rory couldn’t say anything Akari stepped forward with a stern look on her face.

“Rory, I can’t believe you invited only Toya to the festival but not us. We’re a part of your fan club too you know!” 

Unsure in how to deal with the situation as more eyes fell upon him. Rory soon found himself hiding behind Toya leaving him to fix the hundredth disagreement he has had with the female members of his fan club.

“Come on guys, Rory only invited me so that I could get some inspiration on the brand that we are making,” Toya explained while covering Rory’s mouth so the boy couldn’t make the grave Toya was trying to get him out of any deeper.

“Oh yeah, make sure you get some good pictures of our rising star, while we get some info about Rory to put on the Facebook page,” Akari stated as she cooled down.

The very exchange caused Rory to grab Toya’s hand as he hurried him away from his now very distracted family. 

“Rory shouldn’t we’ve asked your dads before leaving the group?” Toya questioned as he watched Rory ordering a strawberry crepe for himself.

“I don’t know shouldn’t you have told me you only came here to do the girls’ bidding?” Rory questioned back with an annoyed glare at Toya that caused the taller boy to raise his hands in surrender.

“I really thought we were going to get a chance to hang out like normal friends today,” Rory pouted as he nibbled on his crepe. 

A smile appeared on Toya’s face as he realized why Rory had gotten so frustrated earlier. “There’s no reason why I can’t do both,” Toya stated as he held out a fist towards Rory.

Rory couldn’t help but stare at the fist in the air as he hesitated for several moments before he ended up pounding his fist with Toya’s. “Before you drag me back to the group tell me why your so dedicated to the fan club?” Rory questioned as he sat on a near by bench.

Toya soon joined Rory when the other boy had made it clear that he wasn’t moving until his question was answered. “I guess the reason is that all your hard work has inspired me. When I was younger, I was really into photography and sketching, but I gave up on it after a bunch of bullies called my work stupid and threw my sketch book into the river,” Toya explained as his blue eyes focused on the ground.

“I know it probably may sound wimpy to you, but I don’t know. I really like sketching your skating style...and the girls liked my sketches so they just gave me the position.”

“Why would I think that’s wimpy?” Rory stated as he got off the bench to stand in front of his friend. 

“Really?” Toya questioned with surprised as he got off the bench to follow after Rory. “It’s just that skating is a hundred times cooler than anything I can do.”

“I’m not sure about that. I think pursuing the thing that your passionate about makes you pretty cool in my books no matter what that activity is,” Rory stated as he finished off his crepe before picking up the pace when his family came into their view.

As Toya lagged behind, he couldn’t help but smile at Rory’s words. It perplexed the young boy greatly how Rory was able to make some of his biggest issues disappear with just a few words. After the boys reunited with the group, they joined the other kids in playing festival games, winning prizes, and eating delicious foods like takoyaki.

———————————————————

“Cheese!” Was yelled as Toya took a picture with Rory carrying a large plush Makkachin poodle on his back while standing in between his fathers. As Toya looked at the huge grin on Rory’s face, he couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Hey what’s so funny?” Rory questioned as he peeked over Toya’s shoulder to look at the picture he took on his camera.

“It’s nothing really. It’s just looks like your having a lot of fun.”

“I am, this might be the best day ever!” Rory boomed with a cheerful smile.

“The day’s not over yet,” Victor stated as he pointed to a stall on the beach selling sparklers. This caught the attention of the children, causing them to start running towards the stall to pick out different colored sparklers.

“Is this really necessary? I mean the free fireworks that mark the end of the festival will be starting soon,” Yuri stated as he spent the rest of his pocket change paying for twenty sparklers.

“Come on Yuri, it’ll be fun. Just follow my lead,” Victor reassured as he took a bag filled to the brim from the vender before taking hold of Yuri’s hand. 

A sigh and a warm smile soon appeared on Yuri’s face he followed behind Victor. He couldn’t help but wonder why he couldn’t say no to his overbearing husband. That thought ran through his head more and more as he watched his husband dazzle the on looking children by preforming one of his old skating routines on the beach with two blue sparklers in his hands. 

The sight of Victor was breathtaking especially as the sparklers gave his performance an almost mystical atmosphere. With a sigh Yuri soon joined his husband as fireworks lit up the sky. 

“Wow, I can’t believe I am watching the Nikiforov preform in real life,” Sara announced with quiet glee as all eyes were fixated on the dazzling lights above them and the ones gracefully moving around in front of them.

“They’re beautiful,” Toya let out as he recorded the scene with a look of wonder on his face. 

“They just wanted to steal the spotlight,” Rory stated with an exasperated sigh at his fathers, but the warm smile plastered to his face gave him away. He was enjoying seeing Yuri and Victor having fun and reliving the days they used to spend captivating the hearts of the masses that watched them.

“You should go join them. So, I can make this a family video I can post,” Toya suggested as he handed Rory two green sparklers.

“Well if they get mad at me for interrupting their show, I’m going to blame it on the person in charge,” Rory teased as he got Minako to light his sparklers. Despite Rory’s earlier comment somehow, he made the show complete as their routines seemed to compliment each other.

Toya’s eyes hung on to every movement Rory made. His best friend really was amazing, he thought with a smile. Every movement Rory made reminded him of a bird soaring through the sky. His arms made large elegant motions that made him look as if he had wings. Wings that were reaching further and further towards the sky. An image of a beautiful and gentle bird came into his mind as he watched Rory gracefully twirl in the air before landing and effortlessly leaning backwards causing his back to arch forward as his arms swooped back in the same direction. Toya could hardly believe how flexible Rory was as his hair barely grazed the sandy ground bellow them. The thing that stuck out to Toya the most as he lifted his camera to his face to take a picture was the look of prefect peace and happiness on Rory’s face. 

“You really are the coolest Rory,” Toya whispered in a defeated tone as he took a picture of Rory. When Toya looked at the shot, he couldn’t help but smile with pride knowing it probably was the best picture he had ever taken. As the rest of the evening was spent with the rest of the children dancing around the beach with sparklers, Toya hoped he would be able to drawl more inspiration from his friend to keep on following his dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah so this chapter was inspired by the end credits of the show where Yuri and Victor are playing with fire crackers. I kind of wish that the show had incorporated more cute scenes like that in the anime. Please remember to leave a review to let me know your thoughts on the story so far. XD


	12. First Local Competition!!! (part 1)

August 2021

“I can’t wait until your competition in Tokyo in a few days!” Sara squealed as the Rory’s Chicks fan club came into session around their leader, Himari.

“Did you get the school to agree to fund your tickets as a club activity?” Rory questioned as he absentmindedly flipped through a few flash cards Toya had made him to improve on his Japanese vocabulary for there next up coming test.

“Of course! Once Mr. Yamamoto saw all of our progress in setting up your fan page, he couldn’t deny us,” Himari reassured as she reached into her desk to reveal four plan tickets to Tokyo. 

This caused Rory to raise an eyebrow as his eyes focused on the tickets. When the girls had came up with the plan, he didn’t think the principal would actually agree in making his fan club an official school club. “There had to have been some catch to that agreement.”

“Well you’re not wrong about that,” Toya confirmed as he brought out a sheet of paper with both Yuri and Victor’s signatures on it. The document outlined this competition as an official field trip for the Hasetsu Academy’s Figure Skating Appreciation Club. It also declared that Yuri and Victor were going to be the group's chaperones, who would be in charge of feeding and lodging the students during the trip.

“When did you guys get them to sign this?”

“We were very persuasive during the festival,” Himari explained with a devious smile that made Rory grimace slightly as he felt sorry for his fathers that were probably bullied into agreeing to this whole arrangement.

“Plus, we had your Grandma on our side,” Akari added only to further confirm to Rory that Yuri and Victor really didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“So, what are your official jobs during this field trip?” Rory questioned while handing back the consent form to Toya.

“Oh Rory, this isn’t like you. Why are you suddenly so interested in the fan club’s activities?” Sara questioned back with an amused smile on her face. 

“It’s because I feel uneasy when I leave you guys to your devices for too long,” Rory retorted back with a slight deadpan.

“Don’t worry Rory. The principal wouldn’t have agreed if we weren’t going on official business,” Himari assured as she showed Rory the clubs approved application form.

On the form there was a brief summary of the club’s activities and a list of key members with their jobs written beside their names. Himari was the leader of the club who was responsible for deciding the roles of the remaining members and planning club events. Sara was Vice President of the club and was tasked in assisting the president in planning events. Akari was the club’s head reporter. Her job was to keep the school and the public updated on all his competitions by regularly making announcements on Rory’s Facebook page. She was also in charge of posting Rory’s thoughts and feelings after each competition. Toya was the head photographer tasked with taking pictures and videos of Rory’s performances and uploading them on to the page. He was also in charge of the fan club page design.

As Rory watched the rest of their meeting unfold he couldn’t help but wonder why his classmates were putting so much effort into this project that started off as nothing more than a silly idea. Despite not fully understanding his four new friends, Rory was happy he would have a little more support going into this competition. 

————————————————————

“Okay, has everyone checked in their luggage?” Yuri questioned as he looked down to see the nodding heads of five children. With one more quick scan around the area to see if he could catch any stray luggage that should be checked in he crossed yet another item off his list.

“Wow Yuri, you sure are taking this field trip thing seriously,” Victor stated as they started to head towards security.

“You aren’t taking this seriously enough,” Yuri reprimanded him playfully before looking back down at his check list. “Plus I’m only trying to make this trip as painless and uneventful as humanly possible. After all, we are in charge of other people’s children.”

“Yeah but that doesn’t mean you can’t lighten up a little. I mean what’s the worse that can happen?” Minako stated as she whacked Yuri hard across the back causing the retired figure skater to only tense up more.

“Please don’t jinx us,” Yuri stated as he stared at all five children with a look of dread, as anxiety bubbled in the pit of his stomach. He only prayed all of them weren’t as much of a handful as they were at the festival.

“Relax,” Victor soothed as his fingers interlaced with Yuri’s fingers before pulling Yuri towards him and placing a gentle kiss on the right side of his temple. The gesture caused Yuri to relax a little as he put away his check list.

“Awe, your dads are so cute!!!” Sara declared with a whisper as she whipped out her phone to start taking pictures of the couple in front of them.

“You guys really think so?” Rory questioned with curiosity not because he didn’t think his fathers were cute, it was more a curiosity rooted in how his friends perceived them especially since all the adults seemed to make such a big deal about his guardians’ relationship.

“Of course! I wish my parents acted just as cute, but they’re always so formal with one another that it’s boring,” Himari replied absentmindedly as she sorted through her carry on to make sure it would be able to go through security.

“Adults are kind of dense,” Rory stated more to himself then the other children who immediately redirected their attention towards him in curiosity.

“What do you mean by that?” Toya questioned.

“It’s just that everyone gave them a lot of grief when they were trying to enroll me in a school. According, to Mr. Yamamoto it was because other adults thought their relationship would disrupt the other children.”

“Sounds more like they were projecting their discomfort on to others so they wouldn’t have to deal with you guys,” Akari explained in a nonchalant tone as she passed through a detector after Minako.

“Maybe it’s a little bit of both,” Toya added in as he passed through security after Rory. “I mean I think the older generation draws too much security from being set in their ways and when something clashes from those beliefs they assume that the world will end just because some people want to live their lives differently. At least that was what my mother said when my Grandma disapproved of her getting a divorce from my father.”

“Adults are just silly worry-warts. You shouldn’t take all their worries to heart,” Sara stated as she came up behind the two boys and hugged them.

“What are kids whispering about? If you guys don’t pick up the pace we’re going to miss our flight,” Minako warned causing all of them to grab their bags that were cleared by security and scurry off to join the adults in looking for their gate number.

As they boarded the flight Rory felt a little more at ease with his friends. From what he could gather all them did not live perfect and happy lives like he had once thought. Some of them may have even felt the same loneliness he felt before meeting Yuri and Victor. During that flight he decided to change they way he viewed the girls’ loud and obnoxious attitudes. Instead of being constantly annoyed with them he would try to be more accepting and enjoy the way they always found a way to make every second of the day a little more interesting.  
————————————————————

“Finally we're here!” Rory beamed as he raced out of the airport once everyone had gotten their bags. Rory was amazed by his new surroundings. He could hardly believe he was still in Japan because Tokyo looked so different from the small town of Hasetsu. 

“Rory! What have I told you about running ahead of the group?” Victor questioned as he pulled Rory back to his side.

“If we hurry we could get a picture at the Tokyo tower and then-“

“Rory what did we discuss earlier?” Yuri questioned as he fixed the boy with a stern look that never failed to cause Rory to simmer down a little and this moment was no exception.

“No sight seeing until after the competition,” Rory grumbled with a pout as he tried to wiggle out of Victor’s tight grip around his hand. When there was no sign of Victor letting go the young boy gave up and decided to walk quietly next to Victor.

“Come on cheer up Rory. We have a whole day after the competition to go to the Tokyo Tower, Sensoji Temple, and the Ghibli Museum,” Himari soothed as she walked up next to Rory with a warm smile on her face.

“Yeah, and don’t forget that you have your own professional photographer, Toya Russo, with us,” Akari announced as she pulled Toya towards them with a bright smile.

“Fine, I guess I can wait until then,” Rory muttered under a pout that was starting to transform into a smile.

“You would find yourself in a lot less trouble if you exercised some patience from the beginning,” Minako scolded as flicked Rory across the forehead lightly.

“Okay, okay. It won’t happen again,” Rory laughed out as he protected his forehead with his free hand from any further attacks. The rest of group seemed to join in on the laughter partly because the boy’s laughter was so contagious and there was the fact that there was no way Rory could keep his promise. Waiting wasn’t something in the boy’s nature.

It didn’t take long before they arrived at a nice humble three star hotel a few kilometers away from the competition venue. Despite the hotel not having a five star rating, the Ueno Hotel, was a lovely hotel with a clean modern and urban look on the inside. 

“Okay, we have three rooms. How do you guys want to separate them?” Yuri questioned as he fiddled with the room keys for two double rooms and one single room.

“Oooo, I call a single room with Victor!” Sara stated only to have Himari whack her across the head.

“Ignore her, she’s an idiot,” Himari stated before taking a key to one of the double rooms from Yuri. “The kids can get one room while the adults split the remaining rooms among themselves.

“Yaya! That means I get my own room!” Minako declared as she grabbed the key to the single room quickly and started to run away to find her room, before anyone could change their minds about the room assignments.

“I guess those are the room assignments then,” Yuri stated with an exasperated sigh as he saw Minako disappear into one of the rooms in the long hallway they were standing in. 

“Awesome we can have like a slumber party! Where we stay up all night having pillow fights and trying to chase down Rory to braid his hair,” Akari declared with excitement only to have Himari whack her across the head this time.

“Guys, Rory has a really important day tomorrow and needs his sleep. Is that understood?” Himari reprimanded as she walked back and forward in front of her classmates as if she was a captain in the army.

“You know I like this one,” Victor stated as he bent down in order to be at the children’s level. “Okay here are the rules. Himari is going to be in charge and I want all of you sleeping by 8. If you need anything Yuri and I will be in the room next door. Understood?” Victor finally dismissed them when he heard a resounding ‘yes sir’ from each of the children. As both adults watch the children start to file into their room, Victor stopped Rory.

“Hey you know you can come sleep in our room if you want,” Yuri offered with a concerned look as he bent down to Rory’s level too.

Rory slightly hesitated as he looked between the two rooms. He really wanted to take Yuri’s offer because being with them made him feel safe. But on the other hand he also had to consider how it may look to his friends. After all, not many thirteen year olds would choose to sleep in a room with their parents over a room with their friends. After a few moments of thought, Rory’s pride prevailed. “Look guys I’m not a baby...I can handle this so don’t worry okay.”

“Okay, but don’t hesitate to knock on our door if you change your mind,” Victor answered as he wrapped Rory in a hug before giving him a kiss on his forehead.

“We’ll wake you guys up at 7 am so we can get ready and have breakfast before the competition. Make sure you get some sleep,” Yuri added as he ruffled Rory’s hair before watching the child give them both a salute as he scurry off to join his friends.

When Rory walked in he found himself staring at Himari as she divided the room down the middle with duck tape. “This is the girls’ side and that is the boy side. Since the bathroom is technically on the boy side that will be the only excuse for girls crossing over into their territory.”

“Is this really necessary?” Toya questioned as he started to unpack his luggage.

“Of course, Victor wisely put me in charge so I’m going to make sure everything goes smoothly tonight,” Himari answered back as she passed everyone a piece of paper outlining a bathroom schedule. “Right now it is 6:30pm and by the time we are finished getting ready for bed it will be 7. This gives us one hour of free time before bed. Does everyone agree to this?” Himari asked but judging by the stern glare she shot each and everyone of them they all knew her terms were none negotiable. So in order not to provoke Himari’s rage each child complied to her schedule of having a maximum of ten minutes in the washroom.Once the children were all ready for bed they spent a majority of the time doing homework that Himari had collected from all the teachers so they wouldn’t be behind when they got back to school. 

“Himari! This is the worse slumber party ever,” Akari complained as she shoved her math homework away with defeat.

“Yeah it's not everyday that we get to go on a field trip like this,” Sara added as she also pushed her homework away in protest.

“And how should we be spending this time then?”

“We could have a pillow fight?”

“Rory may get hurt.”

“What about truth or dare?”

“Also denied,” Himari answered with a dismissive tone that only fueled a fight between the girls as they argued about the matter amongst themselves. While the girls bickered Toya couldn’t help but notice how focus Rory was. It was like he was in his own little world where nothing could bother him. At least that’s what Toya thought until he looked down at Rory’s shaky writing. Was he trembling? Toya thought with silent shock as he realized that the coolest person he had ever known was nervous. 

“Toya?” Rory questioned in surprised as his face expressed a mixture of confusion and shock. It took Toya a moment to figure out it was him that had jolted Rory back to reality by placing a hand over the boy’s quivering hand.

The realization caused Toya’s face to burn red with embarrassment as he took his hand off of Rory’s. Before Toya could come up with a decent excuse for invading Rory’s personal space, Himari who had witnessed the interaction cleared her throat. 

“Rory, what’s it like for you, when you compete in these competitions?”

Himari’s question caused Rory to pause for several seconds as he contemplated her question. “What do you mean what’s it like?”

“Oh I guess what I really want to know is how are you feeling right now?” Himari clarified.

Although this question was easier to understand, Rory still found himself trying to look for the words to answer her. Especially since the boy was unsure whether they would laugh at him if they knew the truth. The truth was, he was extremely anxious about tomorrow and all he felt like doing right now was snuggling up to the only two people he truly trusted sleeping in the other room. “I guess I’m okay,” he settled on as he rubbed his shoulder slightly.

“Come on Rory, tell us the truth. I mean I would be nervous if I had a huge competition tomorrow,” Himari said with a warm smile that caused Rory to give into her poking and prodding into his feelings.

“So what if I’m a little nervous it’s no big deal.”

“Stop acting tough, we all know deep down your just a softy and that’s what everyone likes about you,” Akari added with a cheerful smile that caused the tension in Rory’s shoulders to lessen.

“Speaking of being nervous. I remember last year when l played Juliet in a play our class was putting on in front of the whole school. I was so nervous that I forgot most of my lines,” Sara admitted as her face started to redden with embarrassment.

“I remember that, the drama teacher started laughing when you started to come up with fake lines,” Akari added as she started to giggle at the memory.

“Hey at least I added a little comedy to that boring sad tale,” Sara huffed with a smile.

“When I was four I tripped during my preschool graduation...knocking over a few other children behind me,” Himari admitted with a sheepish smile as the room erupted into laughter. It was hard for all of them to believe that their perfect and brave leader would ever be so nervous in front of the crowd, especially since she loved to be the center of attention when it came to anything academic.

“I can definitely top both of those stories,” Akari boomed before proceeding to tell the group about how her mother had signed her up for piano lessons when she was about four years old. During her first and last recital she was so nervous that she ended up throwing up on the piano, which to her fortune caused the event to be cancelled. 

“Eww...that’s kind of gross Akari,” Rory commented after recovering from another laughing fit.

“Admit it already Rory. You’re just like everyone else here,” Akari retorted as she stuck out her tongue at the young boy. 

Akari’s words caused Rory’s eyes to widen slightly in realization. He wasn’t in an environment where he had to hide his emotions anymore. The boy wondered why it was so difficult for him to remember he didn’t need to put up walls between him and his friends? They weren’t like the other children he had grown up with. They didn’t feel the need to ignore or make fun of him because he was different. Instead of overlooking the quiet child with behavioural problems they were trying desperately to extend a hand out towards the boy. It was up to him to continue working on being able to except those hands.

“Your right. During my first competition awhile back, I was so nervous I could barely focus on anything. If I didn’t have both Yuri and Victor with me...I think I probably would have fainted.”

“No way! You were that nervous and you were still able to put on a great performance?” Toya questioned with a surprised tone that seemed to mirror the looks Rory received from the rest of the group.

“You guys don’t believe me?” 

“It’s not that...it’s just amazing that you were still able to go on,” Himari clarified.

“Well like I said before, Victor and Yuri helped me through it.”

“And now you have us!” Sara proclaimed seconds before Himari’s alarm went off to indicate that it was time for bed. Rory had no problems quickly falling asleep once Himari had switched off all the lights. He felt at peace knowing he had a few more people he could trust to be in his corner no matter what.


	13. First Local Competition!!! (part 2)

“Wow, the rink looks hundred times large than it does on TV,” Toya said with amazement as the group entered the competition to see it packed with fans and news reporters covering the event. He was waiting with the other children around the entrance to the rink for their guardians to finish signing Rory in.

“Well that’s to be expected since our TV is the size of a small microwave,” everyone heard giggled out as a woman dressed in a white blouse and a brown skirt walked over to the group with a warm smile. The woman had light brown hair tied back into a bun and bright brown eyes. What really struck the group was how similar her face was to Toya’s facial structure.

“Mom what are you doing here?!” Toya exclaimed as his eyes widened with horror. 

“Are you surprised?” His mother asked as she bent down towards Toya’s level to wrap him in a bear hug that caused the girls in their group to laugh at the sight of Toya struggling to break free from his mother’s grasp.

“Mom your embarrassing me!” 

“When I signed your permission form for this trip. I thought wouldn’t it be a great idea to surprise Toya and get an exclusive from his friend. So I called up my editor and he agreed to allow me to lead a news team to cover the event!” Toya’s mother explained as she ignored the struggles and pleading from her son to let him go.

“You want to get an exclusive interview from me? Why?” Rory questioned as he approached the woman wearily as if he wasn’t quite the woman was completely safe to be around and judging by the tight grasp she had on her son he felt entirely justified in doing so.

“Oh you must be the famous Rory I have heard so much about,” the woman stated as she allowed Toya some relief before holding out her hand towards Rory. “I am Toya’s mother, Ms. Russo, a reporter for Hasetsu Daily News.”

“Hi...” Rory answered with a forced smile as he took the woman’s hand. 

Sensing Rory’s uneasy she straightened up with a warm smile, while giving him some more space. “Well you’re the second skating hero to come out of Hasetsu. I mean just look over at that cheering section,” Ms. Russo stated as she pointed across the rink to a crowd of screaming girls wearing green t-shirts and waving green signs that had ‘Rory’s Chicks’ written across them.

The very sight caused Rory's eyes to widen until they looked like two saucers. He could hardly believe he went from having a cheering section of two for his last competition to what looked like hundreds of people cheering his name. How this get so out of hand? He thought with a slight grimace as he glanced at one of the Rory’s Chick signs. No matter how the boy looked at the title of his fan club he still thought that it sounded lame.

“How did this happen?”

“Rory. Really?” Himari questioned with an annoyed look on her face as she grabbed his phone from his pocket. She spent a total of five seconds on the phone before pushing the phone into Rory’s face. “Didn’t I tell you to keep tabs on your fan page so you know what’s going on?” Himari finished with a slight dead pan as she saw Rory’s eyes widen further as his hazel eyes focused on the screen. 

“Where the heck did, I get a hundred thousand followers from?” Rory questioned Himari as he gave her a dubious look as if the only way, he could have this many people invested in his skating is if the girls had done something truly devious or magical.

The look caused Akari to pinch his right cheek hard for implying for a moment that they didn’t get all this buzz to his fan page using honest means. “Don’t think you are the only one who has been working hard all this time.”

“Akari’s right. After your first skating performance where Yuri and Victor announced to the world that they were training you, a lot of people wanted to know more about you. So when we started to post important information on your background history, we got more and more followers,” Sara explained further with a proud smile that widened when she put a finger to Rory’s mouth to prevent him from asking another stupid question.

“At the end of the day people started following your page due to 4 main reasons. People where attracted to your page because they were either fans of your late parents or fans of your current guardians. Or they genuinely fell in love with your skating or finally were interested in the pictures Toya took of you,” Himari finished with an exasperated look at Rory as she watched him shrink away from them.

Rory at that moment didn’t know how to feel about this information. For months he had always regarded this whole fan club project as nothing but an excuse for the girls to have silly meetings everyday. But this? Rory thought as he took another glance at the fan section. This was no silly project among friends. At that moment he finally realized how the girls were able to get this club verified as an official club that the school felt confident in spending money on.

“Hey kids, what did we miss?” Minako called out as she came walking towards the kids with Yuri and Victor in tow.

“Wow Victor, would you look at that cheering section for Rory,” Yuri stated as he adjusted his glass to get a better look at the signs and t-shirts Rory’s fans were wearing. Hearing this caused Victor to whistle in surprise at the numbers he saw.

“Would you look at that, they're all females Rory. You little heartbreaker,” Minako teased as she patted Rory on his back, which earned her an annoyed glare in response.

“Well putting that aside who’s this?” Victor questioned as his blue eyes moved towards Ms. Russo who was rendered speechless for several seconds as she gawked at the two famous figure skaters with star struck eyes.

“Umm...this is my-“

“I am Ms. Russo a reporter with the Hasetsu Daily News. I was wondering if I could get an exclusive with you two and Rory after the competition,” Ms. Russo introduced quickly as she interrupted her son. The very sight caused the children to dead pan slightly as they wondered whether Toya’s mother was really here to focus on Rory or to fan girl over his fathers. 

“Well we’re thankful for the offer, but we promised the kids a free day after the competition. So-“

Before Victor could finish denying Ms. Russo request, Rory stepped in between the two adults. “I guess we could do the interview right before leave,” Rory murmured unenthusiastically causing Toya’s mother to burst with gratefulness as she wrapped the small boy into a hug.

The way Rory tensed up without pushing the overly affectionate woman away caused both Yuri and Victor to share an impressed look. Both of them were surprised by how their little boy had grown between this competition and the last one. This time he looked less worried and more at ease to the point he was actually able to eat his breakfast this morning. He was also trying to get use to the fact that he couldn’t always control all human contact by running away or hiding behind them.

“If you say so Rory, anyways we should head over to changing room to get Rory ready,” Victor stated before bending down towards the level of the children. “Now children remember that Minako’s in charge so try not to cause her too much grief.”

“They shouldn’t cause me any if they know what’s good for them,” Minako retorted sternly as she motioned to Rory’s friends to follow after her.

“Oh Toya! Do you want to come with Mommy?” The middle aged woman questioned with delight that caused Toya to groan slightly. Before Toya could protest he was cut off by his mother pointing towards an area near the bleachers close to the ice. “My news crew is set up over there. It’s really close to the ice so you can take better photos of Rory.”

Toya reluctantly accepted his mother’s offer as he allowed her to happily drag him off to where her crew was set up. Although the boy knew his mother was just trying to help him out. He also knew she wanted him to come with her in order for her to cuddle him and show him off to her co-workers.  
————————————————————

“I didn’t expect Toya’s mother to be…” Victor trailed off as he tried to come up with the right word as they walked towards the locker room.

“Such a whirlwind?” Yuri offered.

“For lack of a better term, whirlwind fits. Are you sure you’ll be okay with her interviewing you?” Victor teased with a soft laugh as he watched the boy’s face sour slightly.

“Toya’s my best friend…it would be a problem if his mother didn’t like me, so I guess I’ll put up with it,” Rory replied as they entered the locker room filled with other children getting ready with their coaches.

“Doing things, you don’t want to do for the sake of others…Yuri it looks like our little monster is growing up,” Victor stated with a teasing tone that caused Rory to glare at Victor.

“Stop making fun of me…we need to start getting ready anyway.”

“He’s got a point Victor,” Yuri agreed causing all three of them to focus on the task at hand. It didn’t take them long to get Rory into his all black silk skating attire for his short program. The real problem came with trying to comb back Rory’s unruly hair while trying to get him to stop squirming.

“Victor, can you be a little more gentle? It hurts!” Rory hissed out as he tried to move away from Victor’s reach while keeping his feet still enough for Yuri to help get his skates on.

“Well this would go much more smoothly if you would just sit still. I’m almost done anyway.”

“You said that two minutes ago,” Rory whined back.

“You guys over there will you be quiet? Some of us are actually trying to focus on winning,” a voice yelled out in Japanese. The voice caused the family to turn towards the lockers at the end of the row they were changing in to see an older boy sitting next to a strict looking elderly woman.

“Sorry we’ll try to keep it down isn’t that right Rory?” Yuri promised as he redirected a glare at Rory, which got him to comply with Victor’s wishes. With that final exchange the locker room once again fell into a low murmur of voices.

“That guy didn’t have to be so rude,” Rory murmured quietly as he looked over to the older boy a few lockers down from them. The boy had short black hair and dark brown eyes that were fixed to a scowling face. 

This comment caused Yuri to look up at Rory before redirecting his gaze towards the boy as well. “I think his name is Daichi Suzuki. I remember seeing his face on the news a few days before the competition being interviewed as one of the top Junior figure skaters in Japan.” One of the top Junior figure skaters huhn? Rory thought as this new piece of information seemed to make him understand why the boy had such a snobby attitude.

“Regardless of who he is. Rory you should try to apologize to him yourself when you get a chance to,” Victor stated with a stern look on his face in anticipation for the look of defiance Rory shot Victor as soon as his words had left his mouth. Before Rory could start to complain Victor cut him off with a firm glare that silenced Rory instantly. “Look I understand that he may not seem like the easiest person to talk to but you need to learn to interact with others…and who knows maybe you might even make a new friend.”

A new friend? Rory thought as he got ready to head out to the rink with his coaches due to an announcement from the over head speakers marking the beginning of the competition. The very idea seemed ridiculous to Rory. He could already guess that Daichi person was the type of person that was probably told he was God’s greatest creation ever since he was born. Kids like that were often stuck up and arrogant. There was no way Rory saw Daichi lowering himself to ever consider a complete no body like him a friend. Despite knowing all this the boy decided he would at least give it a try, after all, he couldn’t entirely judge this kid by the look of his cover page. Victor could be right. Daichi might be a somewhat decent person. There had to be some reason the entire stadium lit up when he graced the ice during their warm-up.

With this in mind Rory found himself leaving his coaches as they talked to some reporters to join the other skaters who were waiting for their turn to perform their short program in an area near the ice reserved for skaters and their coaches. When Rory entered the area, he was greeted by four other boys turning towards him to silently stare at him. The last boy, Daichi Suzuki, sitting on the bench didn’t even knowledge his presence with even a look in his direction. Victor I really hope you are right about this kid, Rory thought as he made his way towards the older boy.

“Umm hi, I’m Rory Lance. I just came over to say sorry for disturbing you in the locker room,” Rory greeted as he held out his hand in hopes the boy would take this gesture as genuine apology and lower the cold scowl he wore on his face. Unfortunately for Rory, all his hope went out the window as he saw the boy’s scowl grow colder as his dark brown eyes opened to glare up at him.

“It sure took you long enough to apologize. Haven’t your fathers taught you any manners? Or do you think that all because you have two skating legends coaching you that you can do whatever you please?” Daichi questioned as he got up to look down on Rory both in a figurative and literal sense since the boy was a few inches taller.

The boy’s accusations caused anger to boil up in Rory as his body started to tremble. He hated situations like this. He hated when people thought they had the right to make other people feel small and insignificant. They always had the same looks in their eyes that showed an equal amount of disdain and joy. As Rory stared up into Daichi’s eyes he couldn’t help wondering how people like him could get so much pleasure in bring someone else down. Especially the boy standing in front of him who seemed to him to have everything a kid like Rory could ever want. He was one of the number one junior skaters in Japan, he had thousands and thousands of fans, and has won more competition than Rory could probably count using his fingers.

“Look I didn’t come here to fight. I just wanted to apologize that’s all,” Rory repeated hoping once more that it would help to salvage the disaster brewing before him as their conversation seemed to draw the attention of everyone around them. 

“What are you doing here?” the older boy sneered as he continued to leave Rory’s hand just hanging there in the air. The look of total disgust caused Rory to flinch back slightly as he lowered his gaze. What was this guys problem anyway? Rory thought as he finally withdrew his hand in defeat. There was no way this situation was going to end well Rory finally admitted to himself as he tried to look for a way out. No matter where he looked, he was all alone. His fathers were across the rink still talking happily to reporters and the other boys around them weren’t exactly too keen on stepping in to save him. 

“I’m here because like you I also qualified to be a potential representative of Japan,” Rory answered with gritted teeth trying to hold in his emotions of anger and embarrassment. He couldn’t give a jerk like Daichi the satisfaction of seeing him lose control.

“You a representative of Japan? You aren’t even Japanese,” Daichi stated with disdain as he pushed passed Rory causing him to lose balance on his covered skates as they called Daichi’s name to get him ready to perform on the ice. Rory had to catch himself from falling over by grabbing on to the side of the rink. As he pulled himself up, he felt his body go numb with the realization that he was alone once again. In a single instant he had lost any hope of interacting with the other skaters as they all looked away from; unwilling to get involved in order not to be dressed down by the skater to beat in this competition.

“Sit down and watch. I’ll show you what it means to be a representative on the national stage.” Rory heard him say just before the boy ascended on to the ice. Make friends with the other skaters he said. Look pass the cover he said. Rory thought with a grumble as he sat down on the bench where Daichi used to occupy. No matter how much Rory tried to calm his emotions his temper worsened as he watched Daichi’s performance. It was in a word flawless and completely deserving of all the praise it got. In a matter of moments Daichi was able to completely change the atmosphere in the whole rink as he charmed each and every woman in the rink with his skating that illustrated confidence, power, and a sex appeal that only a dance filled with Latin essence could express. He landed all his jumps without fail and almost all of them had two or three rotations giving him a final score of 96.5.

Last time my short program only got 75 points…how am I going to be able to beat a score of 96.5? Rory wondered as he felt the dam, he had created to keep his nerve at bay last night crumble underneath the pressure of the sheer difference between Daichi’s skating and his own. So, this was what it meant to be a representative on a national level? Rory thought as he felt the gap between himself and his dream of performing at the same level of his three biggest idols grow exponentially larger to the point the boy felt that if he tried to over come the gap he would only be swallowed up by darkness of disappointment when he eventually failed to ascend towards his dream. 

“Hey, what’s wrong Rory?!” Rory heard yelled at him causing him to snap upwards in shock as he saw both Yuri and Victor in front of him with worried eyes staring down at him.

“It’s nothing…” Rory stated automatically as he felt the eyes of the other skaters boring into him. He could imagine their eyes scrutinizing every movement he made. 

“Rory, it’s almost time for you to go on to the ice…This is all our faults we should have kept a better eye on you,” Yuri stated as he whipped away a tear that Rory hadn’t noticed falling down his cheek. Before Yuri could say anything more, he was interrupted by Victor taking hold of the young boy’s cheeks and redirecting the boy’s head towards him.

“Look Rory, I’m not sure what happened while we were gone, but whatever it was it doesn’t mean anything not when Yuri and I, as well as, your parents are with you. Okay?” Victor stated firmly before he placed a kiss on Rory’s forehead and just like that Victor was able to replace the numbness and doubts the boy once harbored and replace it with warmth and love.

“Yeah, I got you guys and Mom and Dad with me-“

“And that makes you unstoppable correct?” Yuri interrupted as he helped to uncover Rory’s skates. The cheerful nod that Yuri received caused his racing heart to calm down in a second as the worry and anxiety was washed away. Their son was going to be okay. They were going to get through this like they got through everything else with Rory since they had adopted him ten months ago.

“If that’s clear then go out and make us proud okay?” Victor said in a warm voice that caused him and Yuri to be engulfed in a group hug initiated by Rory who reached over the rink barrier to hug his parents. That’s right, Rory thought, as he left his parents to glide towards the middle of the rink. He wasn’t skating in order to beat anyone's score. He wasn’t even skating to win first place, at least not entirely, the purpose of why he was here was to show his parents both the ones watching him from the stands and from Heaven how much he had grown as a skater.

“This is the fourth skater of the day, Rory Lance, dancing to ‘A Regretful Goodbye’ composed and choreographed by his late father Michael Richard Lance,” the announcer introduced over the speakers before the rink was engulfed with the graceful melody of a somber violin. As soon as, Rory heard the music start playing all his worries and insecurities seem to melt away as his body started to glide across the ice while falling into a familiar set of movements, he’s done hundreds of times within the last couple of months. Despite the repetitive nature of his actions each time he preformed this program he felt closer and closer to his parents. With each passing moment as the music took control of his body, he could feel his mind wondering until a memory of his parents appeared in his head.

“There it is folks a clean toe loop! Rory looks like he’s in good form today,” the announcer commented as Rory effortlessly finished his first jump off with a series of slow graceful spins. 

The memory that had popped into Rory’s head had brought him back to their old apartment building he use to live in with his parents. It was right after coming back from a competition in Berlin and his mother was crying softly snuggled up to his father next to the warm blazing fireplace. Rory was about six at the time and had snuck down the stairs to watch his parents from the middle of the stair case hidden out of sight. He knew if he was caught, he would be in a world of trouble with his mother who didn’t seem like she would be in the mood to deal with his antics. Deep down as Rory remembered the small boy too scared to go downstairs to meet his parents, he had wished he had broken the rules and given into his desire to go downstairs and greet the parents he had missed so much.

“I can’t believe that girl called me a washed-up skater all because I waited to have a kid first before taking skating seriously…can you even believe it? A woman telling another woman the reason I always mess up my quadruple rotations is because I’m carrying dead weight.”

“Honey.” His father uttered out in a stern tone as he looked down at his wife with serious hazel eyes. “Is that all you took away from that competition?” He asked with a warm yet stern low voice. The silence in the room after that questioned caused the large well-built man to sigh with exhaustion as he ran a hand through the long flowing black waves of his wife’s hair. “Yes, what that woman said was uncalled for and in excusable. She was angry after all you did steal second up from under her.”

“What’s your point Michael?” his mother questioned with tears still falling from her light brown eyes as she looked up at her husband with a hurt expression gracing her beautiful features. “Whether I won or lost against her it still doesn’t take away the fact that her comment was painful.”

“Yes, and you wouldn’t be an amazing mother if it wasn’t, but at the end of the day her words are baseless. Those words are probably the only things that will allow her to fall asleep tonight. I mean who knows if Adriana’s fragile heart could even take the fact that you are an amazing skater, on top of being beautiful, all while, raising an amazing child who would hate to see his mother’s eyes all red and puffy when he wakes up tomorrow.”

His father was right no matter how many people thought they could bring him down with empty words; they were just words at the end of the day. He had no idea why a big shot like Daichi needed to make himself feel more superior when he was literally one of the top figure skaters in Japan. Despite Daichi’s words Rory knew deep down that he wasn’t that small helpless child anymore. He had what it took to represent Japan, as much as, the other seven skaters that made it this far in the competition and he was going to show them that. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“What do you think happened to Rory when we were gone?” Yuri questioned Victor, while never taking his eyes off Rory’s skating form.

“Not sure, but I’m glad that it hasn’t affected his performance,” Victor whispered back only to have his breath hitch slightly in surprise as he watched Rory take a series of steps before going into the final jump of his short program, which was suppose to be a triple salchow, but he converted into a triple axel in order to increase the difficulty of the performance and increase his score. Both retired figure skaters stood their motionless as they watched the boy leapt into the air causing his body began to rotate through the jump. Once Victor could see that the boy had made enough rotations in the air, he could feel his hand tighten around Yuri’s as he prayed that Rory would be able to stick the landing. They had only gone over this jump a few times in practice only because Rory wasn’t able to fully stick the landing each time, he had attempted the jump. Neither Victor or Yuri could contain their happiness when they saw Rory land the jump using a hand on the ice to balance himself before calmly ending the program with a one-handed Biellmann, where he spun around on one leg while lifting his other leg above his head. He finished the piece while placing his hands together in a silent pray as he looked mournfully up towards the sky from where his parents were watching over him from. 

Once the music stopped playing the whole stadium erupted into cheers and claps. Rory couldn’t help but sigh slightly as he heard the awful chants the girls had came up with during a recess when his fan club was in its early stage of development. Rory’s last jump wasn’t perfect by any means but the fact that he had the courage to even attempt it and almost land it cause Victor’s heart to swell with pride as he held out his hands to catch the small little monster that leapt into his arms.

“Was I able to make you proud?” Rory questioned as he clung to Victor’s neck with a triumphant smile.

“Well we are really going to have to work on that triple axel, but at least you didn’t fall flat on your face this time,” Victor replied with a teasing smile as he placed Rory down to ruffle his hair affectionately.

“Don’t mind Victor, you were amazing,” Yuri added as he also ruffled the boy’s hair as they walked towards the waiting area to hear Rory’s results. 

“After delivering a beautiful sorrow filled performance that left everyone in the crowd including myself in tears, the judges have awarded Rory Lance with 98 points. Putting this up and coming skater in first place,” the announcer declared causing the whole stadium to erupt into cheers once again; however, Rory could barely hear the people around him as he stared wide eyed at the score board. He had done it. He had proven to Daichi and all those others skaters that he was worth being there. As he watched his fathers and friends dance around cheering for him that night at dinner, Rory knew he couldn’t allow himself to be satisfied just yet, after all, everyone knew that the real battle started tomorrow. How well one performed during their free program was going to be the determining factor to see who got to represent Japan on a national level.


	14. First Local Competition!!! (part 3)

“I can’t believe we get to be so close to ice!” Sara squealed with joy as she ran into the reporter and news area near the rink. Seeing all the girls looking around at all the skaters in awe as they warmed up on the ice caused Toya to sigh. He had enjoyed the peace and quite he had yesterday with the girls in the stand. If only his mother hadn’t thought it was a great idea to open the area to his friends in order to get to know them better. Another sigh left the boy’s mouth as he started to flip through pictures, he had taken yesterday to cheer himself up.

“Hey did you get any good pictures?” Toya nearly jumped when he heard this question being yelled out to him from the rink with a happy tone. When he looked up, he saw Rory leaning over the rink gate with a calm and relaxed face. Seeing how confident Rory appeared caused Toya to expressed a relieved smile in return.

“Yeah a few, you were amazing yesterday,” Toya complimented as he brought his camera over to show Rory his work. 

“Wow! These are awesome!” Rory boomed with amazement brightening up his features as he slowly flipped through the pictures. “What do you do to the pictures after you take them?”

“What do you mean?” Toya questioned as he found himself leaning along the rink gate with his arm supporting his head as he looked over at Rory with a perplexed facial expression.

“I mean all of these pictures make me look amazing…and it’s hard to believe-“

“That they are raw pictures of your performance?” Toya questioned with an amused laugh. The boy could hardly believe Rory didn’t know how beautiful his skating was and how cool he looked when he was up there in the center of the rink. It was even harder for Toya to believe that every emotion the boy made him and the whole crowd feel each time Rory graced the ice wasn’t entirely intentional. 

“Trust me when I tell you what you look like when skating is captured in those pictures,” Toya stated with a warm smile as he ruffled Rory’s hair, which earned him a warm smile in return.

“Oh, would you look at that?” They heard a voice sneer out from behind them. When they turned around Rory visibly deadpanned in annoyance as their eyes fell upon Daichi Suzuki. The boy looked upon him with a devious smirk and disdain quite evident in his dark brown eyes. “Do you think all because you came in first yesterday that you’ve already won?” the boy questioned as he moved closer to Rory in order to leer over him to further intimidate his competition.

The very scene caused Toya’s teeth to clench in rage. It baffled him how anyone could pick on Rory the only kid he had ever known to be nice enough to treat him as their friend and accept him for who he was. Before Toya could open his mouth to defined Rory the girls had already got them covered as they rushed towards them. 

“All because you’re the number one junior male figure skater doesn’t mean you have the right to become arrogant and look down on other skaters,” Himari scolded in the motherly tone the group had become accustom to since she used the same tone to keep them all in line on a daily bases.

“Yeah, you better not have been the one that made our Rory cry yesterday,” Sara added as she wrapped her arms around Rory’s neck protectively while shooting a glare at a surprised looking Daichi. He wasn’t expecting to be chastised by skating fans especially a couple of female skating fans.

“Leave Rory alone before we post something about how mean you are to your fellow competitors,” Akari warned as she stuck out her tongue at Daichi. When Daichi realized that he was out numbered he backed away from Rory with an annoyed look on his face. 

“Write whatever you want, like anyone’s going to believe you,” Daichi grumbled out as he turned his back on them and started to glide away. When the group thought they had finally gotten rid of him the boy, dressed in an all white body suit with a pattern of sparkling sliver flowers, he turned around with one last final snarky comment. “Hope that those girls are still around to comfort you when you lose.”

That final comment left a bad taste in everyone’s mouths, especially Rory’s mouth as he squirmed out of Sara’s hug. “Guys I could of handled that by myself,” Rory huffed with a pout as his eyes watched the older boy disappear behind the rink barrier on the other side of the rink to await the announcer to announce the beginning of the final stage of the competition.

“We know, but I bet he’s even more angry now since he was defeated by a pack of girls,” Himari answered with a devious smirk as if she was cooking up a scheme that would mark Daichi Suzuki’s immanent down fall.

“Aren’t you girls taking this a little too far?” Rory questioned with an uneasy look on his face. He knew whatever type of hex those girls were wishing upon Daichi was not going to be pleasant by the evil glares they kept on shooting in the direction Daichi had disappeared in.

“No way, we’re the leaders of your fan club and your friends so we’ll do anything to make sure that you are able to skate in your top form,” Himari stated in a dutiful manner as she placed a kiss on Rory’s left cheek before wishing him good luck. This caused Rory’s eyes to go wide in surprise as his face went several shades of pink.

“What was that for?!” Rory stated as he backed away slightly to protect himself, but before he could run away from the girls Akari grabbed his hand and brought him closure so she could wish him good luck with a kiss on the cheek as well.

“Doesn’t Yuri and Victor wish you luck in the same way?” Sara questioned as she placed a kiss on Rory’s cheek as well. Hearing this reasoning caused Rory to stop struggling away from them. If they were just showing their support in the same way anyone in his family back in Hasetsu would, Rory couldn’t see anything wrong with their actions.

“Come on Toya you too,” Akari shimmed as she pushed Toya towards Rory with a devious smile that grew as she watched the taller boy’s face burn with embarrassment.

“Guys I don’t think that is a good idea,” Toya spluttered out frantically as he tried to avoid eye contact with Rory.

“Why not? Don’t you want to wish your best friend Rory here good luck?” Sara questioned in order to add more fuel to the fire so that Toya would cave underneath the peer pressure her and Akari were applying.

“Guys stop bullying Toya. He can wish me the normal way,” Rory stated bluntly in order to save a now trembling Toya from the pack of lionesses he knew would eat someone like Toya alive in a heart beat. 

“Will all skaters now clear the rink for the beginning of the free program competition,” the announcer declared with a booming voice from the speakers over their heads. Once the announcement was done Toya’s breath hitched slightly as he saw Rory’s posture tense up slightly with what he could only guess were nerves. Was Rory nervous even after showing everyone that he had what it took to stun everyone with his skating? Although the very thought of Rory being nervous confused Toya, he pushed it a side to call out Rory’s name as the shorter boy started to head over to the competitor section of the rink. This caught Rory’s attention causing him to turn around to feel a soft kiss on his forehead.

Rory’s hazel eyes widened in surprise as he stared up at Toya who told him to relax in a whisper into his ear before wishing him good luck with a trembling smile that complimented his bright red face. All Rory could do at that moment was nod blankly as he waved goodbye to his friends. As the boy got off the ice he couldn’t help but lightly touch his forehead as he tried to contain the giddiness he felt bubbling up within him.

“Your sure in a good mood today,” Victor stated with a sly grin as he pulled Rory on to a bench so he could sit in between both his parents while he awaited his turn to skate. “Is it because of how popular you are today?” Victor questioned in a teasing manner as he alluded to the scene everyone witnessed with him getting good luck kisses from his four friends.

“They were just wishing me luck!” Rory replied with an agitated voice, which soon turned into a fit of laughter as Victor started to tickle him.

“Even if they were just wishing you luck, you are still very lucky boy to have so many people who love you and are here to support you,” Yuri stated as he joined in on the tickle fight until the next announcement that truly begun the competition was made as the first skater was called to ice to perform their free program. 

Throughout the time Rory spent waiting for his turn to perform he couldn’t help but think about Yuri’s words, because they resonated deep within in his heart. Rory could feel the cheerfulness that was bubbling up spread throughout his whole body. He had never felt so loved and cherished by both his family and friends in his life before. The feeling was comforting and it made him feel as if the darkness that had swallowed him up during his days in Canada would never again haunt him. Was this what it meant to feel truly free? Rory thought as his name was called to descend upon the ice.

When Yuri and Victor had both kissed the boy good luck it was the first time that they had both sent him on to the ice without any fear. The look they received right before he left them made their hearts fill with happiness as they saw a truly peaceful smile grace his charming boyish features. For the first time since meeting Rory, Victor felt like his son would be alright, as long as, they were right there beside him to continue to encourage him to grow and reach new heights.

“He has a good expression on his face, huhn?” Yuri commented as he rested his head on Victor’s shoulder with a relaxed look on his face. Victor agreed with a nod as he wrapped an arm around Yuri’s waist in order to bring him closer.

“This is Rory Lance, skating to ‘Fly’ a song choreographed by his late father Michael Richard Lance using a performance choreographed by Victor Nikiforov,” The announcer introduced as Rory stopped in the middle of the rink. As soon as, the soft rifts of piano music filled the air the whole stadium quiet down as if the serenity of Rory’s presence had commanded it. 

Rory wore a form fitting half white and half bright green silk V-neck blouse with white and green feathers on either side of his shoulder pads and flowing baggy sleeves that gave an impression of wings each time Rory extended his arms. The right part of his blouse was pure white with sliver sparkles that separated the white part from the green half with a wing like pattern down the middle of the blouse. His blouse ended in a long flowing train at the back that went down his thighs and split in the middle of the two colors. He wore black pants and a mismatch of white and green fingerless gloves in order to highlight the intricate detail of his outfit. Everyone looking upon the boy as he glided to the music would all agree that the boy was simply beautiful and truly breath taking. It wasn’t just the custom that put everyone in the arena into a trance it was his bird like movements as every movement of his arms reminded them of the graceful and soft motions of a bird’s wings lifting it further and further into the air. Within the next three minutes and half, Rory had captivated the audience with a performance that incorporated difficult spins required several directional changes and jumps that created an illusion of a bird playing freely in the air without a care in the world. He successfully completed six jumps with increase difficulty since each one required multiple rotations with his arms in delicate raised positions. Each jump and series of spins seem to flow together not giving the child much time to regain his energy and composure for the next jump. Rory finished his routine with a slow arching of his back until his head was almost at the level of his legs as his arms unfurled gently outward. Despite seeing Rory practice the difficult routine for months Victor could still hardly believe how Rory could muster up enough stamina and focus to last to the very end of the program without collapsing. The peaceful and tranquil atmosphere of the rink broke once the beautiful elegant music disappeared causing the crowd to erupt into cheers in celebration of such a beautiful performance.

“Well folks this was a truly amazing performance. The level difficulty in those jumps and spins alone is something to marvel at. Thirteen-year-old, Rory Lance should be proud of such an accomplishment,” the announcer complimented as Rory skated towards his fathers with a multitude of roses in his hands as he saw both men waiting to hug him at the door to the ice rink.

“You were absolutely beautiful, Rory!” Victor boomed with pride as he wrapped both Yuri and Rory in a bear hug. Feeling the arms of both his favorite people in the world cause Rory’s smile to grow bigger as he snuggled his face into their arms. Rory soon found himself in the result box holding the hands of both his guardians tightly as he waited with anxiety as the judges made their final decisions on his results. He needed to surpass 270.5 in order to beat Daichi’s score so that he could be chosen to represent Japan on the national level.

“Rory Lance your final score is 274.7, which means he has just won the competition and will be representing Japan in the Junior Grand Prix 2021!” the announcer declared causing Victor to lift Rory up into his arms in celebration.

“I can’t believe it you actually did it!” Victor proclaimed with a brimming smile.

“No, we did it, thanks to the both of you I was able to skate like that…it’s because I love you both so much,” Rory stated with a smile that caused tears to fall from both mans’ eyes. Neither of them could ever imagine that this day would come. The day Rory would acknowledge them as his parents. Although, they had some disagreements about adopting the energetic boy at first neither them could imagine their lives without him in it. They could all feel their familial bond growing as they laughed and celebrated the next day by taking several funny photos at the many tourist attractions the busy city of Tokyo had to offer. Within those last couple of days Rory wasn’t sure whether he had ever laughed or smiled so much in his life. As he left Tokyo to go back home to Hasetsu he knew that as long as he had Yuri and Victor by his side he would never have to worry about being left behind or forgotten ever again.


	15. United States Opener!!!

September 2021

A sigh ushered out of a young man with long flowing blond hair that brushed the mid section of his back when bundled up into a ponytail. The man’s harsh green eyes followed the lithe body of a fourteen-year-old boy as he glided across the rink. His eyes narrowed slightly in disapproval as he watched the boy stumble through a triple salchow. I can’t believe that this is Yakov’s new child prodigy that he was hoping would claim Russia gold in the Junior Grand Prix. Yurio thought as he rested his head on his folded arms on top of the ledge of the rink barrier. As Yurio saw the boy stumble through yet another jump he adverted his attention towards his boyfriend, Otabek. He was sitting on the bleachers behind him with a slight smile on his face while engrossed with something on his phone. With one more unimpressed glanced at the skater he was suppose to be temporally coaching in Yakov’s absence due to a cold, he soon found himself walking towards the older man from Kazakhstan.

“What are you doing?” Yurio questioned as he slumped down behind his boyfriend before wrapping his arms loosely around the man’s neck. This caused Otabek, who had slightly tan features and dark brown eyes, to look up at him with a spark in his eyes that caught his boyfriend’s attention. Otabek was a reserved man of very few words and didn’t often show a large range of emotions off the ice. He was the type of man who expressed himself in precise and efficient sentences. So, when Yurio saw the man look up from his phone with a look pure fascination, the younger man couldn’t help but invest more interest in the figure skating video that was playing on the phone.

“Just watching a video of a junior male figure skater that’s representing Japan in the United States Opener in a couple of days,” Otabek replied simply before redirecting his attention back to the small screen held out in front of them. 

The tall blond Russian man didn’t catch a lot from the last few seconds of the video, but what he did see caused his green eyes to widen slightly in interest as an impressed smile played at the corners of his mouth. “Who is this guy?” Yurio questioned as he took the phone from his boyfriend’s hands absentmindedly so he could replay the performance from the start.

“His name is Rory Lance, and guess who his coaches are?” Otabek replied with an amused smirk as he watched his boyfriend’s beautiful face light up for the first time that day after finding out they weren’t going to be able to enjoy their first free day in while since the senior grand prix started a few weeks ago. 

For moments Yurio didn’t reply as he analyzed the intricate step pattern the boy was using throughout the piece. Every movement, jump, and spin the boy executed reminded Yurio of a baby bird working hard to become airborne until it finally is able to sore through a blue cloudless sky with absolute freedom. The performance could bring a tear to your eye due the beauty of how everything came together: the music, choreography, and atmosphere to paint a vibrant picture in the observer’s mind. 

Despite how interested the twenty-year-old man was he couldn’t help but scowl slightly. He knew exactly who his coaches were. The boy’s performance had Victor Nikiforov’s fingerprints all over it, and if Victor was in the picture it also meant the other Yuri was involved as well. “It’s so typical of them to pull a stunt like this right after retiring,” Yurio grumbled in disapproval.

“It’s amazing that even in retirement they never seize to amaze the world with their antics,” Otabek smiled as he touched the furrow growing in between Yurio’s eyebrow. The older man could tell just the thought of the two former skating rivals was irritating his boyfriend. Not because Yurio didn’t like the couple or harbored any hatred towards them. It was more like he was still resenting the fact that for the first time in their skating careers their biggest rivals wouldn’t be fighting against them to see, which one would end up with gold. This gesture caused Yurio to look downwards into gentle dark brown eyes that caused the young man to calm down. His mood further lightened up as Otabek placed a hand on Yurio’s cheek before asking him if they could go watch the US Opener in order to see this child skate in person.

The question threw Yurio for a loop, but as he remembered the boy’s performance, he had to admit he didn’t hate the idea. Before he could reply back to the man in his arms they both jumped a little bit in surprise as they watched a fuming short boy with long shoulder lengthen strawberry blond hair tied back in a bun and grey eyes banging on the translucent plastic rink barrier.

“Yuri, you promised that you would coach me today!” the boy whined with a pout across his face that only worked towards souring Yurio’s mood once again. Why couldn’t Yakov just have gotten his ex-wife to step in, Yurio thought as he got up and started to step off the bleachers with Otabek’s phone, which caused the man to follow Yurio.

“I think I’m interested in seeing this Rory Lance skate, so we better book the flight today,” Yurio stated while ignoring the pair of grey eyes that flared up with more rage as they watched Yurio start to exit the rink area. 

“But-“

“Fine, why don’t you just work on your jumps until you can land each one in your sleep. Lenora I’m putting you in charge,” Yurio called out right before the doors to the rink closed behind the boy’s idol. 

“Oh, poor Alek, being ignored by his all-time idol…I wonder if the rink is cold enough to freeze your tears?” A peppy girl with a beaming smile teased him. Lenora was a thirteen-year-old girl with long straight ginger hair and warm amber colored eyes. She had been the young boy’s childhood friend ever since he could remember. So, she often came to watched his skating practices when she didn’t have anything better to do or when she had to drop off a skating outfit that her mother often designed for the Russian team.

“Shut the fuck up!” Alek retorted with a hiss before returning back to his training. The slim smart mouth girl made another comment that caused her to burst out into laughter; however, Alek was no longer focusing on the annoying girl in the bleachers, he was still regretting to this day was one of his only friends, as the name Rory Lance crashed through his head. Who was this guy? And why was he so important that he could make his reason for living and skating reconsider going to the US Opener after the same man had turned him down last week when he asked him to come see him skate. The very thought of this faceless skater caused Alek to mess up three more attempts to land a triple salchow, before his frustration caused him to exit the ice. He could hear his friend whistle in amazement when he kicked off his practice skates in blinding rage as the thought of the mystery boy wore away at his final nerve.

“Break time is it? Or is this quitting time?” Lenora questioned with a sly smile as she unpacked the lunch Alek’s mother had packed them from the boy’s leopard printed sports bag. Alek ignored her as he slumped down next to her on the bleachers. The boy grabbed his phone next to his bag and placed his headphones in his ears. It was time to figure out who this bastard was, he thought as he clicked on the first search result that took him to a colorful facebook page with an array of posts and videos. He opened the video titled Victory in Tokyo Interview.

“This is Sakura Russo, from the Hasetsu Daily News, and I am here in Tokyo today interviewing Rory Lance the new junior male figure skater who will be representing Japan in the Junior Grand Prix and his coaches Victor Nikiforov and Yuri Katsuki,” a lady with light brown hair tied up in a bun wearing a white pressed top and a long flowing navy blue skirt announced with a polished smile as she looked towards the video camera.

“So, tell us Rory how are you feeling after that amazing performance?” the woman questioned as she passed a young boy, who looked about Alek’s age if not younger, a microphone. Alek’s grey eyes narrowed in on the tanned skinned boy sitting cheerfully in between two figure skaters Alek would recognize anywhere. 

“I guess it feels a little unreal, especially when I think about how far I have come within these pass couple of months. I owe everything to my hard-working coaches,” the boy wearing a red and white track suit with black sweat pants replied cheerfully earning him an affectionate pat on his head by the Victor Nikiforov. Seeing this caused Alek to hiss silently as he could feel waves of jealousy wash over him. 

Alek had heard stories about how Yurio used to follow Victor around in the chances that the legend would notice him in order to get Victor to choreograph him a piece for his senior competition debut. The short program that Victor had given his mentor was part of the reason why Yurio went down in figure skating history that year. How was he going to be able to compete with a kid who had the only man his mentor had ever referred to as being a genius backing him up?

“So, tell us what was the inspiration for that amazing free program?” 

“I guess the theme is resilience.”

“Resilience?”

“Yeah, before Yuri and Victor found me my life wasn’t really the happiest. I had lost my parents around 2 years ago and every since then I was being passed between foster homes. What resilience means to me is the ability to keep on climbing to new heights with the strength and love of those around you.”

“Wow, those are definitely some wise words to live by,” the reporter cooed sweetly as if the child in front of her was the most adorable thing in the world. Alek let out an annoyed sigh as he rolled his eyes. His mood worsened as he started to flip through the comments underneath the video as it continued to play. The video had 10K likes and zero dislikes with comments ranting and raving about how cute and innocent the boy in the video was. There were even a few comments from girls declaring their undying love for him. These people couldn’t be this dumb, could they? He wondered for several seconds as he tried to re-evaluate the boy. But no matter how he looked at the situation all he could see was a pathetic and desperate boy trying to put on a cute and vulnerable act to gain the support from the masses.

“Alek whatcha doing?” Alek heard yelled into his ear a second after he had felt one of his earbuds being ripped out of his right ear. The sudden outburst of Lenora’s voice caused the boy to nearly fall off the bleachers.

“Are you insane?!” He yelled back as he gripped his chest with ragged breaths. An exasperated look appeared on his face when he saw her smile innocently at him while stealing his phone from him without so much as an apology. 

When he saw the mischievous girl looking through his web history, Alek paled slightly knowing that if she found out he was stocking his new rival it would only give rise to more brutal teasing. “Give that back, you long armed freak!” Alek yelled as he tried to grab the phone away from the taller teenager holding his Iphone just out of his reach as she flipped through his recent history.

“Omg! Are you a Rory Lance fan as well?!” she beamed happily as she brought up his earlier search in order to drool over google images of the boy. Of course, this idiot was under the kid’s spell, as well. Alek thought with gritted teeth.

“What’s so good about him anyway? I bet I could skate circles around him,” Alek grumbled with a pout as he looked away from the sight of the girl filling up what was left of the memory on his phone with screen shots of her favorite pictures before sending them to her phone.

“Unlikely,” the girl scoffed without a second to even contemplate how her words set off a landmine of rage within the boy next to her. “It’s not only his skating, but he’s the type of sensitive and well-mannered boy a girl like me could bring home to their father.”

“You talk as if you know the kid,” Alek scoffed back before standing up to swipe his phone back.

“Well of course I know everything about him, I signed up as a member of his fan club so I get daily pictures and videos of his everyday life,” she shimmed shameless with a pleased look on her face as she watched Alek go slack jawed. 

That’s it! Alek fumed. What the fuck was so good about this loser anyway. He remembered when his fan page was created and he had to do Lenora’s homework for a week before she even considered joining. Looking at his best friend fawning over this random guy made Alek’s blood boil. There was no way he was going to let that pathetic little weasel beat him he swore as he stumped off the bleachers to get back to his training, while leaving his lunch uneaten. His new found determination was lost once he had arrived in Boston for the US opener. Alek could see why his idol was so interested in the young boy skating before him. Alek had just finished his short program with a modest score of 84.5. It wasn’t the score his coach had been hoping for, judging by the deepening scowl on the ancient features of his coach, Yakov.

He felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he watched the younger boy dressed as if he were at a funeral gliding across the ice to a sorrowful melody. It truly amazed Alek how the boy could completely change the entire atmosphere of the stadium within two minutes and 40 seconds. No matter how much Alek tried he couldn't help but feel himself being captivated by Rory’s skating as his grey eyes stayed glued to the ice. He soon snapped out of the trance he was put into when the announcer had declared Rory got a score of 95.4 points. The number caused Alek to stare up at the leader board with wide eyes and a slackened jaw as he watched Rory’s name move up to first place. At that moment his head lowered in defeat as he had to face the hard-cold realization that this Rory Lance person was in deed a better skater. He had never once ever scored in the 90s and here was this younger less experienced skater doing it as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

“Alek, relax.” He heard stated in a coaxing manner as an old hand ruffled his hair with a stern yet gentle smile. “You still have the free programs tomorrow, yes?”

Alek couldn’t look up at his coach as he felt his hands tremble slightly in shame. He couldn’t give up, he thought as he followed his coach out of the stadium that day after the announcer recap the performances and ranks of the day. He had exactly 14 hours before Yuri and Otabek’s plane arrived with Lenora in tow, and he wasn’t going to let a stuck up spoiled little brat ruin his confidence before the main event.  
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“Rory do you remember how you felt the last time when you skated your free program in Tokyo?” Victor questioned gently as he smiled down at Rory who was cheerfully grinning upwards at him as the young boy placed his head in his arms while leaning against the rink’s barrier.

Rory nodded in reply with excitement flashing across his face as he remembered the feeling but more importantly the taste of the pork cutlet bowels that were waiting for him when he had arrived home. Victor couldn’t help but sigh in exasperation knowing that his son’s mind wasn’t on claiming his first gold meddle, but the meal the two most important men in his life loved so much. “Just make sure you skate the same way, okay little monster?” 

“Rory are you even listening?” Yuri questioned the boy as he watched Rory half nod towards him before his attention was redirected towards Toya who was waving to them from the reporter area on the other side of the rink. Rory replied with an absentminded grunt that Yuri could only assume was his son’s way of saying yes in the most distracted manner he could. The gesture caused Yuri to laugh slightly before he felt two hands wrap around his torso. This caused Yuri to whip around with a flustered yelp that caused Victor and Rory to turn towards him.

“Hey Yuri!” they all heard being yelled loudly as they saw a tan man with pitch black hair dressed in an expensive black track jacket with matching black sweatpants pounce on Yuri with a cheerful smile. 

“Hey Phichit-kun! What are you doing here?” Yuri questioned with excitement as he broke out of the hold the younger Tai skater had on him so he could embrace his old friend in a proper hug. 

“Well I had a break in my schedule...and you never told me you were going to have a son! Aren’t I your best friend?” Phichit questioned back with a cute pout as he looked away from Yuri with hurt evident in his face. 

“Sorry Phichit, your right. You should’ve been the first person I told…but a lot happened so quickly-“

“Say no more, all is forgiven, as long as, you introduce us to your son,” Phichit interrupted with a gentle smile as he placed two hands on Yuri’s shoulders to comfort the other man who looked like he was suffering from a great deal of guilt and regret.

“Wait a minute, what do you mean by ‘us’?” Victor wondered out loud as his eyebrows knitted together in confusion when he thought over Phichit’s words. Phichit didn’t even need to reply as the crowd around them erupted in cheers causing all of them to turn towards the well timed disturbance to see a handsome Swiss man in a fitted suit blowing kisses at the female fans as he walked by them with Yurio, Otabek, Yakov, and what looked to be two other children in tow. Victor laughed as he saw Yurio and Otabek share an unimpressed look between themselves. The very sight of their old skating rivals caused both Yuri and Victor’s faces to light up as they tried to wave them over to their position.

“Long time no see,” the swiss man with ashen short blond hair and emerald green eyes greeted as he took Yuri’s chin in one hand while sending a flirty wink over to Victor. Victor’s smile grew as he felt content in seeing that Chris was still up to his devious antics.

“You’re just as shameless as ever,” Yurio stated in disgust towards Chris before redirecting his piercing gaze towards Victor and Yuri. “Hello, Victor,” he greeted Victor with respect before turning to Yuri, with a look of disdain as he saw that the older man who shared his name had gained a few pounds. “Piggy,” he scoffed out in greetings that caused Yuri to touch his stomach slightly with an embarrassed smile. 

“Still as harsh as always I see,” Yuri observed as he waved to Yurio with an uneasy smile, knowing quite well the younger skating legend’s temper could blow at any moment.

“I wouldn’t have to be if you weren’t such a disgrace to figure skaters everywhere,” the man huffed causing Otabek to take hold of his hand as a silent signal to calm Yurio down especially when they had the eyes of practically the whole stadium on them. 

“Now, now children we wouldn’t want to set a bad example for the kids,” Chris stated as his eyes fell upon Rory who looked so amazed at the newcomers that he observed them quietly with excitement and admiration written across his face.

“Chris’ right,” Victor stated with a cheerful smile as he stepped away from the ledge of the skating barrier in order for him to introduce Rory to everyone.

When Victor had finished introducing his son to the other skaters before them, his attention was redirected to his old skating coach as the elderly man with a receding hairline grunted in displeasure at hearing that Victor was back in the coaching game and coaching his adopted son no less. “I will admit your coaching this time around has bore more fruit than your last attempt,” Yakov commented as his icy glare fell on Rory for a few moments before he looked towards Alek. 

“I will meet you in the competitor’s area so behave,” Yakov commanded as he watched Victor completely ignore his previous comment to joke around with Chris. Having to deal with Victor’s flamboyant attitude and antics again tired the old man out as he left without a reply from Alek who was too busy staring at Rory with anger as the boy talked casually towards his idol. Alek could barely contain his anger as he watched his rival even go, as far as, calling Yurio a Russian punk as he hid away from him as he reprimanded the child for his rudeness blaming it on his Japanese counterpart. Why was it always him? Alek wondered for the hundredth time as he felt Lenora push passed him no longer being able to contain her feelings for Rory.  
“Rory I’m your biggest fan! Will you go out with me?” the ginger haired girl questioned with hearts in her eyes as she took hold of both Rory’s hands. Seeing this bold confession caused both Alek and Rory’s face to go bright red. Their faces reddened deeper as they heard a shot from the opposite side of the rink from Sara declaring for Lenora to get in line because she asked first. Everyone around them couldn’t help laughing as they saw the two teenage girls trading insults back and forward from across the rink.

“Yuri, you better be careful with this one or he’s going to grow up to be a womanizer,” Pichit joked causing Yuri to look fluster on how to reply to such a comment.

“And what’s wrong with that? If they play their cards right, they’ll have quite a few grandchildren to train into elite figure skaters,” Chris mused with a suggestive wink at Rory who shrank away behind Victor slightly disturbed at what the older man was eluding to.

“Come on guys, we have young and impressionable minds around us, let’s not give them any ideas?” Yuri pointed out to try and settle the situation as he covered Rory’s ears in order to protect his son’s purity, while Victor merely laughed and agreed with Chris’ comment.

Alek felt left out as his gaze hardened at the scene of Rory laughing as they watched the grown ups antics. How did a kid who had everything stripped away from him end up the center piece of attention from some the biggest names in figure skating in their generation? It wasn’t fair, Alek thought as he bit his trembling lip. Rory couldn’t win this competition the boy decided with a devious smile as a plan formed in his mind. If Rory won now it would only make it clear to everyone including his hero that the boy deserved the attention, they afforded to him.  
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“Hey you,” Alek called over to Rory, who was happily tying up his skates with one of his ears plugged with an ear bud as the other bud swung around in the air as he focused on the task before him. The sound of the heavy Russian accent in the boy’s voice caught Rory’s attention instantly as the familiar harsh yet almost musical intonation of the English language made Rory reflexively relax.

“Alek, right? Your performance was amazing,” Rory complimented with a genuine smile as he tried not to show the discomfort he had for the older boy. It wasn’t that Rory had anything against the young Russian skater it was more of an ingrained reflex he was trying to shake off. He had to keep on reminding himself that he couldn’t be suspicious of every new face that pop into view. Seeing all the skating buddies that his parents had made the boy slightly envious of them. Even though Rory had many friends in his class now, there wasn’t really anyone other than his parents he could really talk about skating with. So, to Rory he saw this as a chance to make a new friend who he could geek out about skating with.

To Rory’s misfortune, all Alek could see from his attempts to be friendly was nothing more than an elaborate scheme in order to draw the older boy into a trap so he too became nothing more than a mindless follower. “What are you making fun of me now?” Alek seethed as he shot a glare at Rory that caused him to flinch back slightly in surprise.

“Why would you even think that? I truly thought-“

“Save the innocent bull-shit routine, how can someone who ended up with a score of 274.7 points in their last competition complement someone who just finished with a score of 271.9?” Alek demanded causing Rory to swallow the retort he had forming in his mouth. 

Rory felt his lips pressed down firmly into a straight line as he looked away from the older boy unsure on how he could even reply to his accusation or even begin to justify his true intentions in a way that he would be believed. Alek took his silence as an admission of guilt that only fanned the flames of the anger raging through him. “So that’s how it is, huhn? Mr. Look-at-me because I was adopted by two well known skaters. I wonder how your real parents feel looking down at a pathetic loser who replaced them with legendary skaters just so you can have a free pass at their fame and notoriety.”

“That’s not true,” Rory hissed out as the boy’s body started to tremble with rage at the mere mention of his real parents. Rory tried to calm himself with thoughts of his father’s words to his mother when she had been picked on by the other skaters. He needed to stay focus on his goal, because he knew using words against people who wanted to belittle him wasn’t going to work. He would have to show this boy as well that like him he was working hard to win this competition as well. 

Seeing Rory visible calm down caused Alek to step closer to Rory in order to leer over the shorter boy so that his next words would pack the necessary punch to destroy Rory’s fighting spirit. “Oh really, then why did you get passed around from foster home to foster home before those two adopted you?” Alek pressed harder as he lifted the boys face in order for Rory to look him in the eye. A triumphant smile played at the corners of Alek’s lips as he could see the determination in Rory’s hazel eyes start to waver. He just needed to push a little more before he clipped this bird’s wings for good.

“I’ll tell you why because all they saw was a pathetic waste of space, and the only reason those guys haven’t left is all because you can skate well-“

“That’s not true!” Rory retorted in a voice he wished sounded more confident, but it came out as a weak barely audible cry.

“Oh yeah, in your bio it states that you were kick out nine homes in the pass 2 years since your parents died. You know that’s a lot of families who didn’t want you for it to be a coincidence, isn’t? Who knows how long those two will keep on lying to you about loving you? I mean what if you get injured and you can no longer skate? What then? How long do you think they’ll put up with you before they return you back to the orphanage?”

Rory wanted so desperately to refute all of Alek’s claims, but he couldn’t. His mind couldn’t stop itself from opening the door he hid all his dark thoughts behind. He couldn’t help but feel his body go numb as his vision began to blur with the tears that were threatening to flow at the edge of his eyes. He could feel himself descending into a despair he wasn’t quite sure he would be able to easily fix with his father’s words or the warm kisses Yuri and Victor always gave him right before a competition.

“What not going to deny this? Wow, I bet if your old parents could see you now they wouldn't even want you," Alek taunted further with a satisfied grin across his face that was in the midst of widening before he heard a slapping sound that seem to echo around them. Shocked grey eyes widened further as he felt heat spread across his right cheek as it reddened. I can’t believe that bloody bastard had the balls to strike me, Alek thought with anger as he felt himself raise his hand to strike the brat back but his hand was stopped by a strong grip that caused him to come face to face with a furious looking Yakov.

Alek’s body went limp in fear as the old man’s piercing gaze willed his trainee into submission. Once Yakov was sure Alek wouldn’t make the situation worse by striking back his gaze quickly narrowed towards Rory’s trembling figure engulfed in the embrace of Victor’s arms.

“What’s going on?” they heard Yuri squeak out as he came up to the group with a water bottle that he unconsciously dropped out of shock as his brown eyes moved between the angry red mark spreading across Alek’s face to the hunched over figure of his son in Victor’s arms.

“A word of advice, I understand it takes a lot of time to teach a kid how to figure skate, but don’t neglect to teach him proper manners,” Yakov warned with an exasperated sigh as he guided his trainee away from them by the boy’s ears causing the Russian boy to fill the surrounding area with whines of pain and a long list of profundities.

Upon hearing this caused Yuri to bow with a humble apology that caused Yakov to look back with a grunt before disappearing from the competitor’s area around the rink. After the pair of Russians were out of view what came next felt like slow motion to Rory as he saw Yuri’s hand bawl up into fist that trembled under the weight of Yuri’s growing disappointment and anger.

“Rory we can’t go around hitting people that upset us,” Victor tried to soothe looking to Yuri to back him up, but what he saw caused his eyes to widen slightly at the waves of anger rolling off of the shorter man.

“He’s right.” Yuri called out with a stern grumble. The crispness of Yuri’s tone caused Rory flinch further into Victor’s body as his tear drenched hazel eyes slowly raised to look at the displeased look Yuri was sending his way. Rory felt his gaze lower back to the ground as Yuri’s anger bored deeply into his soul. Out of the eleven months he had spent with Yuri and Victor, never had Rory ever seen Yuri angry with him or even raise his voice at him. Victor on the other hand was always partially annoyed with his antics even if he didn’t let it show in this voice or expression, but never Yuri. “After the competition you need to formally apologize to Alek!” Yuri stated in a low hiss as he waved a finger in Rory’s face.

“But-“ 

“No buts, you are going to do it or else?” Yuri commanded as he interrupted the whimper of protest Rory had managed out in order to tell his parents what had happened. 

“Or else what?” Rory questioned numbly with a shaky voice.

Yuri could hardly believe that Rory was being defiant at a time like this especially when he had thrown first blow. Not to mention that if it were anyone else, they would have had Rory disqualified from the competition for a stunt like this. “Or else it’s not too late send you back to Canada,” Yuri answered in anger hoping a little scare tactic he picked up on a tv show he once watch would help to rectify the situation and teach Rory not raise his hands against another person especially another skater.

“Yuri!” Victor hissed knowing quite well whatever plan Yuri had cooking up wasn’t going to work. But it was too late the damage had already been done as he watched Rory’s eyes widened in wordlessly terror before they settled down in vacancy. When Rory heard those words, his mind had gone blank and silent with the magnitude of his shock. The one promise he could always rely on when he felt himself falling back into the darkness of his mind had vanished the moment those words had flew out of his mouth. Alek was right, he admitted to himself as he felt himself fall freely into the raging current of his own sorrow. He had been clinging to this idea that he could make this time around work out. These people were different, but they really weren’t. He should have seen this coming, he thought. He shouldn’t have let himself hope that Yuri and Victor actually loved him. He shouldn’t have ignored the warning signs like the fact that the only reason Victor had even decided to adopt was because Sister Gale wouldn’t let Victor take him outside the country without adopting him first. If only he hadn’t let down his guards and let himself hope a little, maybe this wouldn’t have been so unbearably painful.

“Fine,” Rory mumbled out as he squirmed out of Victor’s hold and blinked back his tears as the announcer called his name to get him ready for his performance. With a satisfied look Yuri picked up the bottle of water he had dropped on the ground to hand it to Rory. But the young boy merely ignored the bottle as he headed towards the ice.

“Look Rory, Yuri didn’t mean it he was just angry, sometimes we say things we don’t mean in the heat of the moment,” Victor tried to reason as he gently took hold of Rory’s arm desperate to make everything right again. But the moment Victor placed a hand on the boy, Rory pulled out his grasp with a glare that warned Victor not to touch him. This caused the out stretched hand to make another attempt in soothing Rory fall limply at his sides. Victor’s eyes blurred with hurt and tears as he watched Rory descend onto the ice. At that moment Victor wasn’t crying because Rory was ignoring them. It was because for the first time since he had known their cute little monster, Rory was truly hurting to the point, he had retreated so far into the maze of walls he used to protect his heart that Victor wasn’t sure they would ever get him to come back out. 

Seeing the interaction between Victor and Rory caused Yuri to wake up from his fit of anger to see the situation clearly. What he saw caused him to hang his head in shame as guilt and regret instantly suffocated him. He had profoundly messed up. His brown eyes caught tear filled blue eyes that held no anger, just complete helplessness. He had hugged Victor in order to calm the older man as he tried his best to keep it together, but both of them knew that this time they may not be able to fix this problem with the same ease as before, because their beautiful bird was broken and they had lost his trust. 

“It does not look to be Rory’s day, all of the amazing jumps and spins we saw in the last competition, didn’t have the same oomph this time,” the announcer had pointed out as everyone stared in confusion when they saw the somber expressionless face the boy wore throughout the performance. Victor sighed as he realized the announcer’s comments had been generous at best. If he had to pick a part his performance, he would say that his spins were lazy and his jumps were just depressing. He had only gotten half of his jumps today and even when he did manage to stick the landing of a jump he fell short with the number of full rotations. This was bad, he thought as he as watched Rory step of the ice with the same hollow expression he had wore going on to the ice. 

“Look it wasn’t that bad, I’m sure that your short program will be able to make up for-“

“Don’t touch me!!!” Rory bristled as he whacked Victor’s hand away from being placed on his head. The outburst froze Victor where he stood as Rory stomped passed him on his way towards the result booth. He hadn’t even realized he had reached out to touch the boy until he had felt the sting of the boy’s rejection. All Victor could do was rub at his hand as he wore a shaky smile to hide his emotions from the gaze of the eyes that were now narrowed in on them as everyone tried to come up with a reason for the shift in the always loving relationship they were accustomed to seeing between the fathers and their son. 

Yuri merely moved out the boy’s way in order to avoid further conflict and speculation from the crowd if that was even possible, he thought as he tried to ignore the quiet chatter and wordless stares on his way to his husband’s side. “How are we going to fix this?” Yuri whispered with a shaky voice as they watched the boy sit down calmly in the result box.

“I don’t even know if we can,” Victor answered as he wrapped a strong arm around Yuri in order to steady him. They both stood their silently as they announced Rory’s score, which was a disappointing 266.0 points putting him in third place with Alek taking gold. After that Victor and Yuri worked hard to get the boy out of there before any reporters could catch up to them and cause the child to make another scene. The evening only seemed to move downhill from there as all their attempts to cheer up the boy failed epically. He had turned them down when they had asked him if he wanted to visit any special places in Boston, despite the fact he was usually so impatient for the sight seeing he was always promised after a match. He had also refused to eat dinner with his fathers so that he could turn in early for the night. If they thought watching their son sulk into his room when they got back into the hotel was bad, the angry phone call they received from Ms. Katsuki wondering what they had done to her precious grandson was a hundred times worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Sorry for the slow updating recently. I have been getting more and more lately. Hope you enjoy this chapter...well it can't all be rainbows and butterflies. :(


	16. Honey, We Lost our Son!!!

Brown eyes struggled to open as a continuous ringing filled the air. What’s going on? Yuri wondered as he looked towards the clock on the bedside table next to him that read 9:00am in the morning. The man felt Victor bury his face deeper into his shirt as if it would make the ringing of the door bell go away.

“Yuri…make it go away,” Victor murmured in his sleep as he turned away from Yuri to cover his head between his pillow. Yuri couldn’t help sighing with guilt as he caught a glance at the blotchy red spots at the corner of Victor’s eyes. He felt his heart ach when he remembered how Victor had cried in his arms until they both had fell asleep late at night worrying about their son who hadn’t said a word to either of them since before the competition yesterday. 

What am I going to do? He thought with a panic expression on his face as he grabbed his glasses and headed towards the door. His expression soon turned into shock when he opened the door to see all of his old skating rivals staring back at him.

“You look like shit,” Yurio commented as he pushed past Yuri on his way in with Otabek shooting the stunned man an apologetic look as Yurio. 

“Ummm…Victor we have company!” Yuri yelled behind him as Phichit gave him a hug while Chris followed the other two men in. This caused an incoherent groan to come from their room. Yuri ushered everyone towards the dinning area before going back into his room in order to help Victor out of bed.

When they were finally presentable, they both walked out to greet their old friends only to see their faces tense up a little bit as they saw Victor slump into a chair in between Yuri and Chris. It shocked everyone to see Victor in a gloomy mood. Yuri couldn’t blame the looks his friends were sending their way after all having a low mood, sleepless dark circles under their eyes, and blotchy eyes due to crying was more of a look they all would expect on his face, not Victor’s. After all, one of the things everyone in that room could all agree on was their admiration for Victor's ability to always keep his cool no matter what situation he faced.

“Ah come on guys cheer up! I brought black tea donuts!” Phichit beamed as he revealed a fancy plastic bag filled to the brim with donuts and sealed with a green bow.

“Those are Rory’s favorite; how did you know?” Yuri questioned as he set the donuts a side for Rory to devour later. Well he hoped the small boy would be in the mood to at least eat something after going to bed without dinner last night.

“Yeah, we ran into this kid name Toya after the competition, who made us promise to give it to Rory. They were supposed to be a victory gift but…”

“Now its more like a congrats on barely making it to the Junior Russian Cup gift,” Yurio finished off with a grunt of annoyance. Seeing the deepening scowl Yurio was giving them made Yuri sink into his chair as the events leading up to Rory’s melt down came back into his memory.

“Look Yurio, we’re sorry about what Rory did to Alek. We would have apologized after the competition, but…he wasn’t exactly up to talking to anyone yesterday,” Yuri stated as he hung his head low in shame.

“What you talking about?” Yurio questioned with a raised eyebrow causing both Yuri and Victor to look up towards him in surprise. Yurio's green eyes examined their faces before he felt Otabek squeeze his hand before whispering something into the younger man’s ear. “Oh…your talking about the slap. Well Yakov forced us to come over to apologize on behalf of Alek. The little shit was out of line.”

Yurio’s words caused both men’s faces to go blank with confusion as they stared across the table at the blond-haired Russian man as if he had grown a second head. The looks on their faces caused Otabek to sigh in recognition of why the mood in the hotel room was so somber. “You two don’t know why Rory slapped Alek do you?”

Otabek’s question hung heavily in the air, as Yuri and Victor realized that they never once had asked for Rory’s side of the story. They had both foolishly assumed that Rory had latched out at the older boy for no apparent reason. They should have known they thought as guilt seeped into their faces. Rory never acted out without a reason and lately he had been opening his heart more and more to other people, so it wouldn’t have made sense for him to just throw out all that progress on something as frivolous as a whim. 

“No, we don’t…we didn’t ask,” Victor whispered quietly.

“Oh, so is it common for the brat to just go around hitting people then?” Yurio questioned as he stood up to glare down at the men he was now regarding as sorry excuses for fathers in his mind.

“Yurio, cut them some slack they’re new to this,” Phichit tried to defend his friend with an uneasy look as he watched Yuri’s face sink deeper into depression. “We all make mistakes.” 

“Well that’s entirely true Phichit, but isn’t it their jobs to make sure that their skater goes out on that ice in top form. Not destroy his spirits…I mean I payed a lot of money to see that kid skate,” Chris stated nonchalantly with a smile as if he was completely untouched by the mood generated by the situation before him.

“Did you guys just come over to bash on our skills as parents and coaches, because if that’s the case we are already painfully aware we failed him,” Victor stated with a barely audible whisper as he tried to hold back the tears. Yuri gripped Victor’s hand in support knowing that this conversation wasn’t going to end that easily. Yurio wasn’t known as someone you could just walk away from before he had his fill of fully ripping you apart.

“Do you now? Because any decent parents would never defend the child that insulted their kid, their kid’s dead parents, and their current ones,” Yurio stated sitting back down in a huff as he crossed his hands along his chest.

“What did he say to Rory?” Yuri questioned looking up at Yurio for the first time since the conversation had started. With a sigh Yurio’s face softened slightly knowing that he had been hard on them, but deep down he knew why he was really angry at them. It was quite evident to his boyfriend, as well based on the way he felt Yurio’s hand tremble with anger as he told them everything a very guilt ridden Alek told him last night as he cried over his gold meddle after Lenora had yelled at him with accusations of him antagonizing her beloved prince. What upset Yurio the most was how the boy hadn’t relied on his own skills alone to beat Rory and how both men, in his opinion, were so inadequate about where they stood as parents and coaches, they couldn’t have solved the problem before sending the boy out on to the ice. The boy he had given up one of his free days to go see take flight only to get nothing near the performance he had hoped for.

“I can’t believe he said all that to Rory and to make things worse I…” Yuri couldn’t finish the rest of his sentence. The rest of his words got lost in his throat as tears fell from his eyes. His tears fell faster with the knowledge that this whole situation they were in was entirely his fault even though Alek had been the catalyst. He had ignited the chain of events that had followed afterwards by opening his big mouth and telling him the one thing he didn’t need to hear at that moment when he must have been questioning everything, they had ever told him. He had known the moment those words about sending him back to the orphanage came spilling out of his mouth he had made the wrong choice; it was only now he could comprehend the full magnitude of his actions yesterday. 

“Guys, please don’t cry. Like I said before we all make mistakes and now that you know what’s going on shouldn’t it be easier to fix,” Phichit said softly trying to console the two fathers. His reason for coming over to the hotel was to help fix the problem half the world had witnessed when they had watched Rory seating up in the result box without his coaches. He didn’t expect the situation to turn into an intervention like it had.

“Phichit’s right, we need to believe that we can fix this,” Yuri whispered as he looked up at Victor with brown eyes that Victor could see a glimmer of hope in while he wiped away Yuri’s tears. 

“How about you go get breakfast going, while I go and yank our little monster out of bed?” Victor suggested with a small smile that caused relief to sooth Yuri’s features as he agreed with the plan. 

Phichit couldn’t help but grin slightly as he watched the men get up with newly found determination. He was content to see them finally looking like fathers instead of moping around waiting for a solution to hit them in the face. The mood started to lighten up a bit as the sound of sizzling eggs filled the air along with quiet murmurs from their guests making small talk while they waited for breakfast to be served. 

However, it wasn’t long before another dark cloud took hold of the mood within the hotel as everyone's attention was redirected towards a horrified yelp from the hallway. Without thinking Yuri switched off the stove and was rushing into Rory’s room where he saw a frantic Victor tearing Rory’s room apart. “Victor what’s going on? Where’s Rory?” 

“I don’t know, he’s not here,” Victor replied with a trembling voice as he grasped Rory’s phone in his hand that had several unanswered text messages and phone calls from their family and Rory’s classmates. Yuri ran towards him to help soothe the growing fear creeping into Victor's clear blue eyes. “I think he may have run away,” Victor concluded with worry that over took the man as he allowed his mind to wonder through all the possible scenarios, he could imagine a poor boy alone and lost on the dangerous streets of Boston could be facing at this very moment.  
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Earlier that night agitated feet paced his small room as the events that took place during the competition played over and over again in his mind. Rory’s balled up fists episodically trembled as he tried to make sense of the whole situation. No matter how he looked at it he couldn’t help but come back to the words Alek had said. 

“…How long do you think they’ll put up with you before they return you back to the orphanage?”

Rory ran his hands through his hair in anger as the words caused tears to run down his cheeks again. What if he’s right? Rory thought as his mind flashed to what Yuri had said before he descended on to the ice. The tears only fell faster as he remembered the anger in Yuri’s voice when he had threatened to send him back to Canada. Once again that night Rory could feel the darkness closing in on him as he bent down trying to calm his ragged breaths as anxiety shot through his body. I can’t go back there! Not after I started making friends! Not when I started to think of everyone back at the hot springs as family!

As his vision became blurry with anxiety and tears, he tried to get a hold of himself by grabbing his phone to see 20 missed messages. A few were from his classmates, while the rest were either from Minako, Yuuko, or Ms. Katsuki. He ignored the messages and unlocked his phone to flip through pictures he had taken with his new family and friends since he had come to Japan. Every bright happy photo he flipped through caused his body to slowly become numb until his phone slipped out of his hands to land safely next to him on the bed. If Yuri and Victor did decide to send him back would the others even miss him? He thought as he felt tears start to fall again. I can’t do this anymore! He yelled in his head as he picked up his sports bag and shoved a few things from his closet in the bag before sneaking out of the hotel room. 

I promised myself that I wasn’t going to see that orphanage again, and as the boy ran through the dark cold streets of Boston, he intended to keep that promise. He knew that if he disappeared then he could save Yuri and Victor the hassle of sending him back and he would never again have to suffer from the loneliness he experienced from that building. 

By the time he could see the sun peaking out from the horizon he had stumbled into a park with a couple of large oak trees. Without many ideas of other places to hide, he found himself climbing into one of the trees. All he needed was to wait for Yuri and Victor to give up looking for him and catch their flights back to Japan tomorrow, and then he would be truly free. He wouldn’t need to worry about messing up and getting sent back to the orphanage. From tomorrow onward he would stop relying on untrustworthy adults to care of him. After tomorrow the only person he would care about was himself, the only person he could count on not to hurt him. The boy thought with his eyes fixated on the rising sun as he wrapped himself up in a blanket he had stole from the hotel.   
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Rory soon felt his eyes fluttered open as the sun broke through the foliage due to the wind creating spaces between the branches as they swayed. When did I fall sleep? Rory thought as he rubbed the sleep out his eyes. It won’t be too long now, he concluded as he looked up towards the sky. Judging by how high the sun was in the sky he was guessing it was about noon, and to him that meant he was only half a day away from being free. He felt himself curl into a tighter ball against the tree trunk of the branch he was sitting on unsure whether to be glad or upset he had made it this far into his plan without much opposition from his guardians. Were they even looking for me? Did they even car-

“Rory! Rory!” Rory heard called out from down bellow. His heart pumped a little faster in his chest as he recognized the familiar Russian accent that was used. The small boy bit his lip slightly as he tried to control the urge he had to run out of the tree and into Victor’s warm arms. However, the closer the voice got to the tree the harder it was for Rory to ignore the possibility that his guardians may actually care. Maybe there was a possibility he could continue to live with them. Maybe if he tried hard enough, they could go back to how it was before the competition. This new line of thinking caused Rory to pick through the foliage only to have his hopes dashed as he saw the loud Russian punk stomping around the playground leaving crying children running away scared in his wake. 

As soon as, Rory had peeked his head out of the safety of the tree he instantly regretted as his eyes locked with Otabek’s gaze for several seconds before he scurried back into the safety of the tree praying that the older man hadn’t recognized him. To his dismay seconds after he was spotted the tree started shaking as the Russian punk started yelling threats to get the poor boy down from the tree.  
“Get down here! You fucking little brat! Do you know how long all of us have been out here looking for you!” Yurio yelled as he kicked the tree harder causing Rory to wrap his arms and legs around the tree branch, he was sitting on so he wouldn’t fall out of the tree.

“Why don’t you come up here and make me,” Rory taunted back as he stuck out his tongue at the now fuming Russian figure skater. 

“Why you little sh-“

“Yuri,” Otabek called out as he placed a hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder to calm him down before they made the scene that everyone in the park was now gawking at worse. This caused Yurio to pause for a moment before stepping back to allow Otabek to handle this. Yurio couldn’t help but smile with pride as he watched his boyfriend effortlessly climb into the tree and drag Rory back down kicking and screaming slung across one of his shoulders.

“Let go of me!” Rory yelled as he tried to squirm out of Otabek’s hold on him. It didn’t take long before the small boy was being placed firmly on the back of Otabek’s motor cycle. Before he could even think about running Yurio had his strong arms around him making sure he stayed in place as Otabek started up the bike. 

This wasn’t good, Rory thought as he looked around to see bystanders looking on and taking pictures of the scene. “Help, help! I’m being kidnapped by the Russian mo-“ 

“Stop right there,” Yurio commanded as he covered Rory’s mouth with a menacing glare. “If you don’t come with us quietly like a good boy, I’ll chuck you off this bike while it’s in motion, understood?” Yurio warned causing Rory to pale slightly as he nodded towards the older man. With that single threat Rory obediently allowed the two skaters to take him back to the hotel, not because he wanted to go back. He was more scared of what the Russian version of Yuri would do to him if he made a break for it. 

“You guys so owe us for this,” Yurio stated with in an unimpressed look on his face when he opened the door to present the lost child to his guardians. Victor and Yuri ignored the displeasure radiating off Yurio and rushed towards Rory as tears of relief and joy ran down their faces. But they stopped short from their target when they saw Rory move behind Otabek to hide from them.

“Hey Rory, there’s no need to be scared we aren’t mad anymore,” Victor whispered softly as he reached a hand towards Rory hoping that their little boy would take it. However, his invitation was greeted with nothing more than silence as conflicted hazel eyes fixated on his hand.

He really didn’t trust them anymore, Yuri realized with a sigh as he bent down next to Victor trying hard not to allow the hurt and regret, he felt towards Rory’s actions appear on his face. “Look Rory, this isn’t your fault. We are to blame for this whole situation. Especially me,” Yuri stated with a gentle voice as he slowly moved towards the young boy. As he approached Rory couldn’t help but accept his advances. Even though everything in his mind was telling him to run he couldn’t. No matter how much Yuri’s words had hurt, he was still Rory’s skating idol. Nothing was going to change that fact. Despite hating the fact that he couldn’t hate the two men standing in front of him, he still found himself running into their warm embrace. Tears wailed out from Rory the moment he felt the two men take hold of him tightly. 

“It’s okay, everything is going to be alright. I’m sorry I said those words we would never send you back. We would miss you so much,” Yuri explained as he whipped tears away from the hazel eyes staring back up at him. 

“How can I be so sure you won’t,” Rory whispered as new tears replaced the old ones that were whipped away. Both their hearts were breaking as they felt Rory’s trembling hands desperately grip their shirts. “How do I know that you’ll still keep me even if I make another mistake or if I hurt myself and can’t skate anymore?” he whimpered out with a weak voice that caused Victor to lift the boy’s head to place a soft kiss upon his forehead.

“Then we’ll make sure we keep on telling you that we love you everyday, so that you have no choice but to believe it,” Victor whisper with a gentle smile that caused a smile to touch Rory’s face. 

“Well, I guess our job here is done,” Phichit declared with a huge smile causing everyone around the family to realize that they were intruding on a moment. Despite the heartfelt reunion everyone could agree that there were a lot of deep seeded issues between the two retired figure skaters and their son that they needed to work through. As Rory watched his fathers’ friends start to file out of the hotel, he reached out to grab the back of Yurio’s leopard print hoodie.

“Thanks for bringing me back,” Rory whispered when Yurio turned around with a surprised look on his face. He hadn’t expected the child he literally had to drag back kicking and screaming would actually thank him. 

“I’m going to watch the Junior Grand Prix Final, you better make it to that competition and show me some real skating, understood?” Yurio commanded as he ruffled the boy’s hair before leaving the apartment. Yurio’s words caused Rory’s eyes to widen slightly as he ran a hand through his messy hair, still able to feel the warmth of Yurio’s hand lingering. When did the Russian punk become sort of cool? Rory wondered as he followed his fathers towards the living room.


End file.
